Justice
by JanSuch
Summary: Will receives information about the death of his mother and goes after the one he believes responsible- Tesla.
1. Chapter 1

Will burst into Helen Magnus's office waving a sheaf of papers.

"I knew it, and now I have proof!" he exclaimed, slapping the papers down on her desk.

Helen gave him a confused look and picked up the ten sheets in a loose pile in front of her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I finally found an investigator who knows what he's doing. There it is, Magnus, proof of who killed my mother."

Helen gave him a concerned look. All they had known up to this point was that she had been torn apart by a beast, probably an abnormal. Will had been tortured by vague memories for years, and the identity of the killer had become a suppressed obsession of his.

Will just pointed at the papers and said, "Read it. There's even a photo, although it's not very good, just a computer enhanced enlargement of someone in the background. Still, he's recognizable."

Magnus quickly scanned the papers, reading the investigator's summary and taking a long look at several photographs, mostly of the victims' injuries, but including the distant shot of a man. Then she said, "This says your mother and three other women were murdered within a few weeks of each other in the same local area by a creature that is described as having claws and possibly drinking blood but able to pass as human. The photo of the man is quite blurry; I don't see how you could recognize whoever it is."

"You don't want to recognize who's in the photo. You don't want to see the obvious conclusion. The killer was a vampire, and the only vampire in North America at the time was Tesla. That's Tesla in the photo."

Helen sighed. Will had convinced himself, but the evidence seemed open to interpretation. "Give me a few minutes to read through this completely. Then we'll talk."

"Fine." Will sat down and waited while she read through the printout carefully. When she had finished, Helen set the papers down carefully, marshalling her thoughts.

"Will, this says that the victims were clawed and there didn't seem to be enough blood residue to account for all the blood lost. That doesn't prove that it was drunk. All four were killed outside, some blood likely soaked into the ground, there was a great deal of splatter, and some was undoubtedly carried off on the perpetrator. There are quite a number of creatures that would fit that profile, both normal and abnormal."

"It also says no creatures were ever seen or reported, there were no tracks, no hair or fur, nothing at all to indicate that it was an animal. Every witness said all they saw was other people in local area. And the picture is conclusive."

Helen shook her head. "The picture is of a man striding along in a parklike area wearing a suit. There are some patches that look like stains on the suit, but that's not proof he was the killer. He could have tripped and fallen in a mud puddle or something. And frankly, while the height and build match Nikola's, there are undoubtedly thousands of men it could be. According to the report, this was taken about the time of one of the other killings, a family photo that happened to catch him in the background. There's nothing to link him to the other three murders, and it's apparent that all four are similar enough to conclude one killer."

"There's nothing to say he wasn't at the other three kill sites either. And there were footprints found at three of the sites from long narrow male feet, and at the fourth the ground was too hard for prints. One killer, Magnus. And while all of the victims were slashed, there was enough left of one to see a double puncture wound on the neck. The other bodies probably had those marks too, but the bodies were badly mangled and no one knew until the fourth to look for them."

Helen shook her head slowly. "I know you want an answer Will, after all these years. But you mustn't force an answer when there really isn't one here."

"It is right there in front of you, and I want justice, Magnus. Justice for my mother, for me, and for the other victims and their families."

"Let's say for the sake of argument that it was a vampire. That still doesn't mean it had to be Nikola. You know there are other vampires in the world; it could have been someone else. Just because Nikola hadn't located any others of his kind in North America doesn't preclude the possibility."

"Come off it, you're reaching and you know it. Tesla is a murdering bastard, and he has to pay for what he did."

"I'll show him this and ask him about it, that's as far as I'm willing to go. If he denies it and I believe he's telling the truth, then that's the end of it as far as I am concerned."

Will stood up. "That's not good enough."

Just then there was a short rap at the door, and Nikola Tesla walked in. Both Helen and Will stared at him and he stopped, realizing something was going on.

The tall vampire spread his arms and said, "What? Is it about the wine?"

Helen said, "No, but what about the wine?"

Will brushed her question aside. He picked up the papers and waved them at Nikola. "I finally have proof of what you did, you scum, and you're going to pay for it!"

Nikola's eyes shifted right and left from Will to Helen and back, but that didn't aid his understanding of what he was being accused of much. Will was angry but Helen just looked serious, so he wasn't in big trouble, at least not yet.

"Um, I think I need a little more. What am I going to pay for?"

Will advanced and shook the papers in Nikola's face. "You murdered my mother and three other women!"

Helen asked more reasonably, "Did you attack four women, drink their blood and kill them Nikola?"

"No, of course not," Tesla replied in an offended voice.

She asked again. "Are you quite sure? This was not recent, and you have had periods where you have . . . shall we say, had difficulties. It was years ago when Will was a child. It appears a private investigator Will hired has come up with evidence that the murders could have been done by a vampire."

"I don't go around attacking people and drinking their blood. You know that, Helen."

Will held up the picture of the man in the stained suit. "This is you. Don't deny it!"

Nikola looked at the picture and went even paler than usual. He took it from Will's hand and studied it, not looking up as he found a chair and sat down, a pained expression on his face.

Helen's certainty of Nikola's innocence vanished. "Nikola?"

Will pointed at the silent vampire. "There's your admission of guilt, Magnus. That is him, he did it, and he has to pay for his crimes!" Will threw down the papers and rushed from the room.

Helen was becoming alarmed. "Nikola, look at me. Is that you?"

Tesla carefully reached out and laid the picture on her desk. He looked up at her and said in a strained voice, "No, it's not."

"But you know who it is."

"I can't . . ." Nikola stopped, unable to continue.

She got up from her desk and knelt by him, laying her hands on his leg. "Look at me. Tell me. I'll understand."

He did look at her, but he just shook his head. "I can't. Don't ask me. I didn't kill the women; that has to be enough."

The office door burst open, and Will strode in. He was carrying the bulky rifle Tesla had created to fight the Cabal vampires. Nikola had used his own DNA to test it, so there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it was one of the few things in the world that could kill him.


	2. Chapter 2

Henry ran into the room and skidded to a halt. Magnus and Tesla both took the opportunity the distraction provided to move, Helen standing up and stepping sideways to protect Nikola, and the vampire standing behind her.

Henry said, "Ah, hey Doc, I was coming to tell you . . ." He gestured at the gun in Will's hands.

Helen addressed Will. "Put down the gun. Nikola is innocent until proven guilty."

"His reaction to the photo is a clear admission of guilt!"

Henry sidled a little closer to Will. "Um, Will, you remember that the Doc has the same Source Blood as Vlad there, right? The vampire gun would probably seriously affect her too."

Will grimaced but kept the gun pointed at her and Nikola. "Get out of the way, Magnus."

"Will, I promise you I will get to the bottom of this. But we don't go around shooting people just because we suspect them of something." She stepped forward slowly.

Will's grip tightened on the gun. "Get out of the way, or I swear I will take out both of you."

"No, you won't. I understand how you feel, I know what I wanted to do to the Cabal when Ashley . . . please, just lower the gun, you can always shoot him later but you can't un-shoot anyone." Helen took another step.

She saw Will's trigger hand tighten and she was shoved roughly to the floor as Nikola lunged past her with vampire speed. But even he was too slow; Will pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened, except Nikola wrenched the gun away. Will tried to grab it back, but Henry wrapped his arms around his friend to hold him back and Tesla held the gun away out of reach.

Nikola held up his forefinger of his free hand and shook it at Will like he was a naughty child. "Ah, ah, none of that now."

Helen was up, brushing herself off. "Bloody hell, Nikola, you took an awful chance."

"Not really, you don't think I leave this thing charged, do you? And he wasn't gone long enough to charge it."

"You let me think you were in mortal danger!"

Nikola grinned at her. "And you did a great job defending your man, I'm very proud of you." He removed the dead power pack from the gun and thrust the weapon at Henry. "Put this away, will you Wolfgang?"

Henry let go of Will, took the gun and left to put it back in the armory. Will fumed and said, "This isn't over."

Helen took the power pack from Nikola. "I'll hold on to this. And Will is right, it isn't over. For now, Nikola, you are under house arrest."

The vampire stopped grinning, but he didn't look displeased. "So I just have to stay in this building and I don't have to go on missions?"

Will protested, "That's not a punishment, it's a reward!"

Helen went over to Will and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not supposed to be a punishment; I just don't want him wandering off. We _will_ get to the bottom of this."

"And if he's guilty? Are you going to execute him?"

Helen hesitated. What would she do if it turned out Nikola had murdered innocent people? "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?"

Will pulled away from her. "I knew it. You aren't able to do anything to him. All right, Magnus, I'll give you a week. Then I take justice in my own hands, and believe me, I'll be better prepared next time." He stomped out, still tense with anger.

She locked the power pack in her safe and turned back to Nikola. "Now, why don't you tell me about the wine?" It certainly wasn't the most important thing they needed to talk about, but at least it would get him talking instead of just shutting down like last time.

Tesla fidgeted uneasily. "Well, you know Valentine's Day is coming up, and I thought we should have something special, so I bought few bottles of really good wine."

"Oh, you did it for me, did you? How many bottles, and how much, Nikola?"

He looked around the room as if there were something there that would save him from having to answer. But there was no escape. "Five. I only drank one."

"And?"

"Thirty thousand," he said with a wince. And then, knowing she would see the bill eventually anyway, added, "Each."

Helen sat down abruptly. "A hundred and fifty thousand dollars for five bottles of wine? Are you insane or do you think I am made out of money?"

"It's really, really, really excellent wine. And you just got a ten million dollar donation from that rich American computer guy."

"For saving abnormals and protecting humanity! Did you spend a half million on chocolate too?"

"I . . . I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm sorry, I guess it was a little expensive, but I really wanted to make you happy and I know you would enjoy it."

"Right, that's why you drank one already." She considered for a moment; then she said, "Fine. Return three bottles and give me the fourth, and I'll hold it until Valentine's Day. If you're very, very good, I might even give you a glass of it."

"Okay," he said in a properly chastened tone, and turned to leave.

"We're not done yet, Nikola. Come back and sit down."

He reluctantly did, and she added, "And by the way, you are reimbursing me for the one you drank."

"Aw, c'mon, Helen, I had to make sure the vintage was worthy of our Valentine's Day celebration, didn't I?"

Helen couldn't help but smile a little as she shook her head at him. He was incorrigible, but despite the annoyance he caused her, she would never want him to be boring, either. She was glad there was no chance of that.

"Let's talk about the photo. Will is not going to give up on it without a satisfactory explanation, and I can't really blame him."

The vampire leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and steepled his fingers. She waited while he thought.

Finally Nikola said, "All right. It's a very unpleasant memory for me, and I don't want everyone to know."

"I'll keep it on a strict need-to-know basis," Helen responded warily. This seemed far too easy after his previous emotional reaction.

"It was in the same general area that those killings took place, but it had nothing to do with them. The man in the photo was some sort of self-appointed vigilante abnormal hunter. I never learned his name. He figured out somehow that we weren't quite human and came after me and my friend Vera. She was also an abnormal, not a vampire, but nobody's perfect."

"What sort of abnormal was she?"

Nikola hesitated. "A HAP, like Heinrich."

"Go on." The hesitation made Helen fairly sure he was making it up as he went. But she wanted to hear the whole story first.

"He got to her when I was out. I found her with a stake through her heart."

"In her HAP form? They are very strong and agile, it would be difficult for a human to kill one with a hand weapon. And why use a stake?"

"No, in her human form. I surmised he made up some story to get in the house and surprised her, and used the stake thinking she was a vampire. Anyway, she was dead."

"I see. She must have been a bit naïve to allow a strange man in the house. I assume she didn't know what he looked like, or he never could have taken her unawares. Please continue."

Nikola shifted uneasily. "He found me in a park and attacked me with a stake too, coming up behind me. There were other people around so I just knocked him down, but he got up and came at me again, so I tossed him further into some mud and got out of there. That's when that photo must have been taken."

Helen just nodded and Tesla continued. "I was angry about Vera and he was obviously going to keep trying to kill me so I had to do something. The next day I let him find me again only this time I was aware of him so I led him into an area screened off with bushes. When he attacked me I killed him. I went a little crazy, made kind of a mess."

"There was no report of a male body from that time period."

"I emptied his pockets and weighted him down with rocks and tossed him in a nearby pond. The stuff from his pockets I buried in a trash can. So there you have it. That's why I was so upset when I saw the picture; it reminded me of the whole thing."

"What was Vera's last name, and what did you do with her body?"

"What is this, the Inquisition?"

"I want to verify your story to prove to Will your reaction to the photo had nothing to do with his mother's death."

"Okay, her last name was Chisolm and I buried her myself. She was a HAP. I couldn't allow an autopsy, so I really didn't have any choice."

"I understand. Thank you, Nikola, I will check this out. In the meantime, you are still restricted to this building."

"Okay. I'll see if I can get my money . . . your money back on the wine." He left.

Helen doodled "Vera Chisolm" on her desk pad. She would check it out, but she was quite sure Nikola had just told her a huge lie. The question was, why? She was afraid of the answer to that question, but she needed to find it, needed to know if the father of her son was a murderer. And if he was, then what?


	3. Chapter 3

Nikola made it into an empty suite and found a chair in the dark. The absence of light didn't matter; his vision was clouded with flashing light patterns anyway.

He hadn't had an attack this bad for years, but he knew it was caused by the stress he'd been under lately. It was that photo—that damned photo that had thrown him.

Initially he'd been on the horns of a dilemma- say nothing, or tell the story. Then he'd realized he could just lie about it, but he'd rushed been telling into it and he was pretty sure Helen hadn't bought it. She would check up on his tale, and then he'd be right back in the soup.

He sighed and tried to be calm and relaxed. He couldn't work in his current condition, so he might as well take the opportunity to consider his options.

The one thing he couldn't do was tell the truth. He loved his son, Danny, too much to do that and he wouldn't see him hurt in any way. That left him three choices of action—disappear, say nothing, or lie again. Any way he considered it, he was in trouble.

If he left, Helen and everyone else would assume he was guilty. It would almost be worth it to avoid saying anything and get away from the whole mess, but not quite. He wouldn't be there for Danny, wouldn't see him grow up, and it would sever his relationship with Helen. He could imagine what meeting her again in a few decades would be like if he ran now, and it made him shudder.

Lying again wasn't a good option either. It would be much harder to get anyone to believe him after the first lie was exposed, and he didn't know what else to say. So that left him with silence or the truth, and he couldn't tell the truth, he just couldn't.

He wondered what Helen would do to him if he just refused to speak. He was sure she wouldn't execute him nor would she allow Will to murder him. But what? Imprisonment? Exile? And for how long? He couldn't—he wouldn't—miss his son's childhood, he refused to not be there when Danny came to truly need him.

Nikola sighed and tried to settle himself. None of the choices he had were acceptable and he couldn't think of a good course of action that would get them out of this mess. All he could do for the moment was try to relax and let the visions run their course. When they were done, he would lay low and stay out of Helen's sight for a while. Maybe some brilliant idea would come to him.

Helen's research on Vera Chisolm revealed about what she expected. As far as she could tell, the woman and all her ancestors had been quite human. She had married in middle age, had two children, and died in a nursing home five years ago.

Nikola's friend could have been a different Vera Chisolm, of course, but Helen could find no record of anyone else by that name that fit in terms of age and location. The one she had found had lived in the area where the murders took place for quite a long time- fifteen or twenty years, from young adulthood to her late thirties. But she had moved to Michigan a few months before the first killing and lived out her life there.

The only conclusion she could draw was that Nikola made the story up. He'd made a mistake using the name of a real person, probably someone he knew. He'd needed a name and just blurted out the first one that came to mind. When Nikola couldn't tell a better lie than that, he was really rattled.

So that left her where she started, without anything to tell Will. And she no longer had the advantage of surprise to pry something out of Nikola. She was deeply disturbed and a little afraid of his refusal to tell her the truth. If he really was completely innocent as he claimed, surely he would simply have told her what had actually happened. What other motive would he have to lie, other than to protect himself from retribution? Maybe that's where she could probe.

If he wasn't completely innocent . . . What could she actually do about it? Will was right that there should be some sort of justice for the murdered women. But Nikola wasn't a killer, at least not in his right mind. There had been periods in the past, mental breakdowns, when he might have done anything. But if he'd been mentally ill and now recovered, should he be punished? If he was guilty, he certainly shouldn't get away with it, and yet . . .

Will would never let go of the idea that the murderer of his mother had to pay for the crime, and Helen couldn't blame him much. Unless Nikola were truly innocent and she could convince Will of that, the two men would never be able to live or work under the same roof again. And other Sanctuary employees would take sides; it would shatter the organization she had worked so long and hard to build.

She thought of Henry, friends with Will and Nikola both. Chances were good he was going to be hurt by whatever happened the next few days, and he wouldn't be alone. And Danny . . . if his father was guilty, if she had to separate them that would hurt her child a great deal. She'd gone through that once with Ashley, raising her daughter alone because of what John had become, and knew how difficult it had been for both of them.

The thought of losing Nikola herself made her stomach hurt. Personally, she wanted to forget the whole thing, just keep her vampire safe by her side. But as the head of the Sanctuary, she had a duty to perform, and she never shirked her duty, no matter how unpleasant.

Helen wasn't entirely sure she wanted the truth, but she needed it in order to decide what to do. Reluctantly, she left her desk and went to find Tesla.

She didn't find him immediately. She took breaks from her normal work throughout the day to check on places he might be- his lab, the library, their suite, the wine cellar, his office, the roof. He had to be in building somewhere, and she grew uneasy the later it got without seeing him. Had he left the building against her orders? He couldn't have left the compound, the sensors would alert security to a vampire passing in or out and security would alert her.

She finally found him in the day care center. The greater security offered by the new underground Sanctuary had encouraged more employees and residents to procreate and had attracted a number of abnormal families. There were now fourteen children age four and under in day care and she had started a small school for a growing contingent of older children as well.

Nikola was just lounging off to one side watching the kids. They paid no attention to him; it wasn't all that unusual for him to visit. Danny ignored his papa too. He was almost three and had developed into a bright, happy boy who had a big dollop of his father's charm. At the moment he was engaged in a game involving toy vehicles with three other children.

Tesla stood when he saw her. For a moment he looked like he wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to go. He came over to her, took her arm, and steered her to the door.

"We need to talk," Helen said quietly.

"I guess we do," he replied as they went out into the hall. "Somewhere private, though."

They went up on the roof. With all the pigeons, pigeon feathers and pigeon droppings no one else ever spent any time there. They unfolded a couple of chairs and sat.

Helen started. "I researched Vera Chisholm. She wasn't a HAP, Nikola, and she had moved away by the time the killings started."

"That must have been a different Vera Chisholm."

"Nikola, please don't insult my intelligence. Why did you lie to me?"

He picked up a bag of pigeon food and started distributing it to his little friends. Helen watched him for a few moments then put her hand lightly on his arm, arresting his movement.

Concerned and frustrated, she asked, "Why are you acting like this? At least tell me why you can't tell me the truth. You have to give me something here, Nikola, otherwise what am I to do?"

He set down the bag of food and turned to her. "Telling you would violate the reason I can't tell you."

"That is not a help. You need to do better. If I have to assume you are guilty, I will have to act on that, even if I also assume you were not in your right mind at the time."

Nikola seized on that idea. "Maybe I don't really remember, exactly."

"Then how did you recognize the man in the photo?"

"Oh, yeah, the photo. Um . . ."

"No more lies. Please, just tell me. You know I love you, I will do everything I can to help you. But I have to know the truth, otherwise you and Will are going to be permanent enemies and whatever I do, our Sanctuary family is going to be torn to shreds."

"Aw, hell. If I tell you, if anyone finds out, it will hurt Danny. And I can't do that, no matter what the consequences."

"That's not possible. What could Danny have to do with murders that took place decades ago? You're just trying to frighten me off the subject, Nikola. Not telling me the truth is leaving me in an untenable position and it's going to get worse when Will's week is up. I have to act but I no information! Bloody hell, what am I going to do?"

He looked at her and saw she meant it. He wasn't the only one under stress; the uncertainty was tearing at her, the possibility he was guilty scaring her and hurting her deeply. He finally understood the horrible position she was in, the one he was putting her in. He was tanking her life. Maybe the truth wasn't as bad as where they were headed without it.

"Okay, okay. Helen, I don't want to hurt you, I don't want you to be in pain over this, I don't want to destroy the Sanctuary. And annoying as he is, I don't really even want to hurt Will. I just want to protect Danny. Promise you won't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you, at least not the part that will hurt our son."

Helen hugged him and held him. "Of course I promise. I would never allow any harm to come to Danny. I would give my life before I would let that happen."

"We would give _our_ lives," he corrected, holding her tight to him. And then they moved a little apart and he began to tell her the truth.


	4. Chapter 4

"To begin with, I'll have to go back a bit," Nikola said.

"Can't you just tell me?" asked Helen.

Nikola shook his head. "Please, this is hard for me, let me tell it my own way."

"Of course."

"As I was saying, you know I was looking for others of my own kind, and not finding any. I decided to try another approach. You know that vampires and humans interbred here and there, right?"

At her nod, he continued. "I decided to do a survey of percentage of vampire DNA in humans. I thought there might be a natural approach to recreating my species. Over the course of three years I took about three thousand samples- cheek swab, blood sample, and family history."

"And you got these by . . ."

"Paying for them. What, did you think I was tackling people on the street armed with swabs and syringes?"

"Sorry, please go on."

"In any case, every one of the humans I tested had between zero and three percent vampire DNA, and most of them zero, until I tested Vera Chisolm. She tested out at a whopping twenty-one percent with absolutely no physical characteristics of a vampire. The only thing that was different about her was that I was strongly attracted to her at first sight."

"You were in love with her?" Nikola could tell Helen was trying to be calm, be fair- they weren't together then, hadn't seen each other in years, there was no reason he shouldn't love someone else. But he quickly said, "No, it wasn't love, it was more like magnetic north and south coming in contact. I have a theory that any human with vampire DNA will be attracted to someone else who also carries a significant amount of vampire in them. For her to have such a large amount I had to assume that she got it from all four of her grandparents, or at least three of them. And since significant amounts of vampire DNA are rare in the human population, perhaps those who have it do recognize it in some way in others."

"Or perhaps one of her parents actually was a vampire?"

"No, I researched her family history as far back as I could, and found no intimation that anyone on either side exhibited any vampire characteristics that would be indistinguishable from human. They might be brilliant, beautiful, and charming, but no claws, fangs, extra strength or speed or blood cravings."

"Interesting, but your science seems a bit off. DNA isn't cumulative. Someone with 10% vampire DNA marrying someone with 5% vampire DNA doesn't equate to 15% vampire DNA in the children."

"It doesn't work that way with human DNA, but vampire DNA is a little different. It's sneaky- it will sort of fill in the gaps when it meets other vampire DNA. So 10% interbreeding with 5% will often equal somewhere between 10% and 15 % in the children, although sometimes some of it doesn't take and the child can have significantly less than either parent. Don't ask me why, the sample was too small to draw any real conclusions."

"So my tiny bit of vampire DNA plus your load could equal what in Danny? Is that what you're worried about?"

"No, I tested him when he was three weeks old; I know exactly what Danny has. We'll get back to that later, now let me continue."

"Fine, but please get to something pertinent soon. And you will tell me about our son."

"I will, don't worry. Okay, here comes the pertinent part. Vera was attracted to me too. We dated. She was struggling financially, and I made an indecent proposal which she accepted. I wanted to try recreating the vampire race naturally. I . . . kept her, she had my baby."

"Oh my God, you have a son you never bothered to tell me about?"

"No . . . yes, but no. Let me continue."

"Nikola . . ."

"Helen, please this is hard enough as it is." He paused and then continued, " She named him Michael. I tested him, visited a couple of times a week, and kept a log of his development. He started out as an experiment . . ."

Nikola's voice broke and he took a moment before continuing quietly, "I made a terrible mistake. I didn't treat him like a father should. I still had the old-fashioned notion that women were responsible for raising the children. I just oversaw. And I knew better, dammit, from the moment I checked his DNA, I knew he was going to be a vampire but I still . . . I screwed up."

Helen reached out and touched his arm. "No one starts out knowing how to be a parent. We all have to learn, and we all make mistakes."

"Well the great Nikola Tesla totally blew it. Mikey loved me anyway, even though he rarely spent any time with me. And I gave him my 'superior vampire' attitude, and he picked up on it. By the time he went to school he had a pretty snobbish attitude. The other kids knocked that out of him a bit, but he never made friends with any members of the 'lower species'. I encouraged that too, not associating with the humans. Not having friends meant he wouldn't let anything slip about his rather odd father."

"But you said his mother was human."

Nikola nodded. "He did what she told him because I insisted he obey her. But he didn't respect her, really." The vampire got up and began to pace. Then he said, "Could we go inside? I know there's only the two of us up here, but it just seems as if someone could overhear us."

"Of course. Let's go to our suite and hang out the 'do not disturb' sign."

They went inside to their sitting room. Helen sat down and made herself comfortable, but Nikola wandered around, picking things up and putting them down again. She could see how agitated he was.

Finally he took up the narrative again. "When Mikey hit puberty things changed. His vampire characteristics started to show. I taught him how to control them, explained that he could never expose what he was by word or deed to the humans. They weren't as powerful as us vampires, but there were a heck of a lot more of them. I introduced him to animal blood when the time came, and everything seemed to be okay."

Helen realized something. "The photo—is that . . .?

"Yes, it's Mike. I think he was just over eighteen at the time it was taken. But it's easier to tell this if I stick to chronology." Nikola sat down.

"When he hit high school, he changed, as teenagers do. He pulled away from his parents, started being more independent, which is fine, but he made bad choices. He went to parties with drugs and alcohol, and there really wasn't any way to stop him. Normal punishments didn't have any affect. We took him out of school and I tried home schooling him, but I couldn't watch him twenty-four hours a day."

"He got into drugs?"

"Not exactly. He got into taking human blood from high school kids too drunk or high to care. They all knew him, let him into their parties. He said they thought he was cool, because he could 'do stuff'. He was showing off for them, using his strength and speed to impress a bunch of punks so he could get at their blood. I tried to warn him, I tried . . ."

"Did he harm anyone?"

"He wasn't ripping their throats out, if that's what you mean. He just took enough to satisfy his craving. And that's what it was. When I tried to tell him it was wrong, he told me he was addicted to it, he had to have it, and he would do anything to keep getting it. One day I came home and I noticed Vera acting oddly and wearing a scarf she hadn't been wearing when I left. I made her take it off." He got up and started pacing.

"Mike had taken blood from her and the stupid kid left classic vampire marks on her throat. She didn't fight him and he didn't really hurt her, but she was scared, Helen—scared of her own child. The next day when I came home Vera was gone. She'd packed her bags and fled. I let her go. I couldn't be out looking for Mike and be home to protect her at the same time, so at least she was safe, wherever she went."

"Michigan, actually."

Nikola nodded but otherwise ignored the comment. "As he got older he decided he didn't need schooling, he didn't need parents, he could just go out and take what he wanted. And he could, but he went too far, cared too little."

Helen realized Nikola was starting to change. His voice was dropping and his claws were beginning to show.

"When I read about the first murder, I convinced myself it was an animal of some sort. After the second and the report of footprints, I realized it could be Mike. I ramped up my search for him."

He stopped pacing and stood still, facing partially away from her. "I think the photo was taken just after the third murder. I found him the next day." His breathing had quickened and he was fully vampire now. Helen wisely kept silent and still.

"I tried to convince him to come home, to let me help him get off of human blood. He wouldn't go, so I tried to force him." Nikola's voice had started to shake. "We fought. I tried not to hurt him too much, I was trying to control him, but he . . . he came at me full force. He ripped me up pretty badly and escaped."

There was a long pause. "After I healed I went back out. I found him again two days after the fourth murder." Nikola's voice dropped to a whisper. "I couldn't let him kill again . . . I couldn't . . ."

Helen got up and went to him. He was trembling and she put her arms around him. He grabbed on to her, held her tight, and buried his face between her shoulder and neck.

Then he cried out, "Oh God, Helen, I killed him. I killed my own son!" And he wept, and Helen wept with him.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm sorry, Nikola. I'm so sorry." It was all Helen could think to say to him, but apparently it was enough. In a little while he calmed, released her, and took a half step back.

In a hoarse voice he said faintly, "I've ruined your blouse."

Helen glanced down. In vampire mode, Nikola's tears contained blood and her blouse was liberally smeared with red and pink.

"It's only a blouse, it doesn't matter. Nikola, you did what you had to. You did the right thing. You had no choice."

He gave a shuddering sigh. "There's always a choice. But I couldn't let him keep killing like an animal. He wasn't an animal . . ."

"You saved a lot of lives. It was a terrible, difficult thing, but it was necessary and you were the only one who could do it." Helen hoped she was getting through to him. He'd carried the guilt for his action for a long time—far too long.

He finally nodded a little. "But you can't tell anyone."

"I have to tell Will something."

Nikola began walking around the room again. "Did you ever meet Edwin Booth?"

She gave him a quizzical look at the abrupt change in topic. "No, who is he?"

"I knew him from the Player's Club. He was the brother of the man who killed Abraham Lincoln." He turned to her. "He went through hell because of that, even though he was perfectly innocent. Just like Danny is perfectly innocent, but if people know about his brother that won't matter."

"You think our son will be treated differently because of Michael?"

"I know he will. I told you I checked his DNA. It's not the same as Michael's, of course, but the pattern is there. When Danny hits puberty, he's going to go vampire. And if people know about Michael, they're going to be watching him for signs that he's the same, that he'll become a killer. You know, 'blood will tell' and all that." Nikola walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Even you, Helen, now that you know. You won't be able to help it. You'll be watching and dreading the first time he extends his claws and fangs, you'll distrust every glance he gives a girl, and most definitely so will the girl's parents, if they know."

"That's not necessarily true," she replied a little defensively.

"Really? You're not going to ever think about brothers often being very much alike and just maybe he'll end up acting like Michael? You're not going to flash back to Ashley after the Cabal got through with her and imagine Danny like that?" He dropped his hands and walked away, running a hand through his hair and messing it more than usual.

"Nikola!" Helen barked angrily, more from the hurt of the memory and the truth of what he was saying than true anger at him. He was right, and she hated that he was right.

He turned back to her. "I'm sorry, Helen, but that image is burned into both our brains and it's never going away. Just like Michael's face during that last fight is burned into mine. I didn't want to tell you, I didn't want you to know about Mike at all, I didn't want to dredge up the pain of what happened to your child or make you share what happened to mine. But you had to know, you just wouldn't let it lie."

She took a couple of deep calming breaths. "You're right, and I see now why you didn't want to tell me. But Danny isn't Michael. We both love him, we will both be there to guide him and help him if he does become a vampire. He's different, he has friends of all sorts, and I'm quite sure Danny respects both of us. You're a good father to him, Nikola, and he's learning the right things from us, and from the people around him, both human and abnormal. But we have to decide what to do about Will."

Nikola sat down and put his head in his hands. "God, I don't want to do anything. I want to go far away, somewhere where the lights are bright, the music loud, and the wine full-bodied and strong, and try to forget the whole thing."

Helen sat down next to him and gently moved one hand away from his face. He looked up at her. "That won't do, you know," she said quietly with a small smile, trying to encourage him to face what needed to be faced.

He stared at her for a long moment and then nodded. "I know. You have to tell Will something that he'll believe."

"I think we can just tell him a modified version of the truth, leaving out that Michael was your son. We'll say that after your long search you finally found another vampire, but he was . . . well, he wasn't like you, he was a human blood drinker. At first you didn't associate him with the killings, you thought it was an animal, but then you realized it could be him and confronted him and he admitted it. You didn't want to lose the first vampire you had ever found, you wanted to capture him and convert him to animal blood, but you couldn't. Then, you did what you had to do. The photo is of Michael, and your reaction to it was quite normal under the circumstances. Will gets his justice, but there is no association with Danny."

"I guess that will work. When are you going to tell him?"

" _We_ are going to tell him now, as soon as I change my blouse."

"No, I can't."

"Yes, you can. I know just hearing the story again will hurt, believe me I understand the experience. I will do the talking, but it's your pain that will convince Will that we're telling him the truth, and we are, just not all the truth. Without you it's just another story that he will dismiss."

"Damn it, you're right. Okay, let's get it over with."

They found Will in his office, seated at his desk. His face hardened when he saw them, and he crossed his arms defensively. Helen and Nikola took chairs across from him. She told the story straight through and they waited for his reaction.

Will picked up the photo and looked at it. "So it really was a vampire." He looked back and forth from the picture to Nikola. "I don't know, it does sort of look like Tesla, but kind of lanky like he's not quite fully grown. But thirty years ago I suppose he looked exactly the same as he does now, so okay, it wasn't him."

Will put the photo down on his desk and turned to the vampire. "Tell me about the fight. I want to hear exactly how you killed him."

Helen suppressed a flinch. Will was starting to believe it, but he hadn't quite reached acceptance yet. Making Nikola relive something so painful was cruel, but she understood that wasn't Will's intent. He had to know to believe and be at peace.

Nikola gave her a panicked glance, but she just looked back calmly. His distress was plain to see. It took him a moment, but he finally accepted he had to go through with telling the details of the fight.

His voice low and strained, he said, "I saw him entering a group of trees and I hurried to catch him there, where we wouldn't be seen. He turned and faced me when I reached him. He looked around—I think he thought of running, but our confrontation was going to happen eventually and he decided it was time to finish it. We both vamped and he leapt at me."

Nikola dropped his eyes to the floor and continued. "He was younger and faster than I was, but I was stronger and more experienced. He slashed at me wildly, aiming at whatever body part he could reach. I let him, just protecting my head and vitals and waiting for an opening. He started to tire and I began cutting his body every time he gave me the opportunity."

Tesla raised his eyes and met Will's. "He started protecting his torso, and for one moment left his head unprotected. I took him in the throat, cutting deeply. He was surprised, shocked, and he froze. I cut him again; I took his head. His last expression was just . . . astonishment."

There was a slightly sick look on Will's face, but he nodded. He had what he wanted, he knew who murdered his mother and that the killer had been killed in turn. Justice.

Nikola leaned back in his chair, looking steadily at Will and attempted to regain his usual flippant manner. "Kids. They think they can't lose, they think they're immortal but they're not." He got up and walked out of the room.

That was the moment Helen realized he was going to be all right. She nodded to Will and followed her vampire, catching him in the hall and putting her arm around his waist. He draped an arm over her shoulder and they went to their suite that way.

Once there, she decided she had better bring up the next topic they needed to discuss. She didn't want him to dwell on Michael.

"Nikola, do you know what happened to Vera?"

"No, I never saw her again. You said something about Michigan?"

"Yes. She married and had two children."

Nikola shrugged. "So?"

"So if your theories are correct, she might well have been attracted to a man with a high percentage of vampire DNA. Her children, or perhaps her grandchildren now could be near vampires or even show vampire traits."

He looked at her, horrified. "Oh, crap."

"Indeed. We need to find them, and the sooner the better."

A/N: STforRK and SparklyxJarter, thank you for the reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

Helen and Nikola spent the next day preparing. She did more research and made numerous phone calls arranging transportation, a plausible story for them, and a portable lab.

Nikola spent the day in his laboratory. Ever since he'd been de-vamped by his own de-vamper he'd avoided the device. But now he carefully went to work on it, removing one end and replacing it with an insulator. He'd been extremely fortunate to be able to regain his vampire status and he didn't want to risk losing it again. Originally, he'd thought it easier to be able to use either end without having to pay attention to the device, but now he knew how dangerous that could be. And he wasn't going to be fighting multiple vampires, he would just be inactivating vampire DNA from people who would willingly go along—he hoped.

The following day they gated to Chicago, the closest portal to their destination in Michigan. They avoided the madness at O'Hare and she flew them out of Midway over the lake to Detroit.

There, they were met at the gate by a man with a few things for Helen. She in turn handed Nikola a badge with his name on it from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, generally known as the CDC, and donned one of her own. They went out into the parking area to a large van with the CDC symbol on it prominently displayed. They stowed their luggage and checked out the back compartment.

It was a mini-lab equipped for DNA testing. When they were satisfied they had everything they needed, Helen took the wheel and they headed north.

"So we're pretending vampirism is some sort of disease?" Nikola asked.

"It's a genetic condition that can have deleterious effects on someone's health," Helen explained.

"That's our story to get Vera's family to let me use the de-vamper on them."

"Yes. Her widower is still alive. He lives in the Bay City area and we'll start with him. If he carries a significant amount of vampire DNA, we can find out where his children and likely his grandchildren are and track them down as well. The de-vamper will work if someone isn't actually a vampire?"

"Yes, it will deactivate 94% to 98% of vampire DNA and will also prevent transmission of the deactivated DNA to the next generation. So the kids could be anywhere and we're going to go running around the world after them?" Nikola didn't seem pleased at the prospect.

"Based on what I was able to find out on the Internet they are still all in Michigan, but that data may be a little out of date." She reached out and patted his hand. "Don't worry, we likely will have this taken care of in two or three days and we can go home."

"Right. That's what fatherhood does to a guy, turns him in to a stick-in-the-mud who just wants to go home." Nikola sulked, but not too seriously.

Helen tossed him a smile. "And I'm glad of it too. At least you're not likely to disappear for decades any time soon." That cheered him up a bit; he liked it when he made her happy.

It took them a little less than three hours before she pulled up to a nice ranch home in a suburban neighborhood. They got out and opened the back doors of the van. Helen tossed Nikola a lab coat.

"I'll take the lead, you be my techie, all right?"

Nikola argued back, "Either one of us can do the testing, but I have to run the de-vamper since you can't power it."

"And precisely what would you say to the man?"

Nikola opened his mouth and closed it again. "Okay, you talk. I'll be your devoted servant, as always." They exchanged a quick kiss hidden by the open doors. He put on the lab coat over his suit, and then closed the doors as she started for the house. He quickly followed, falling in next to her but a half step back.

The man who responded to the door bell was tall, thin, and white-haired. Helen gave him a bright smile and held up her badge, and Nikola copied her.

"Good afternoon Mr. Cox. I'm Dr. Magnus from the CDC and this is my assistant Mr. Tesla. We need to speak with you for a few moments, may we come in?"

"CDC?" Mr. Cox said. His eyes roved from their badges to the truck and back. "What's this about? Have I been exposed to something?"

"In a way, yes. I think it would be better if we could speak inside."

He opened the door and showed them into his living room. "So what's this all about?"

Helen gave him the explanation she'd concocted. "Before you knew her, your late wife, Vera, nee Chisolm, was exposed to something that may have altered her DNA. Unlike most genetic conditions, the one we suspect is actually transferrable from person to person. The condition may lay dormant for long periods of time, and can be quite serious, but thankfully it is also easily treatable."

"What condition?" Cox asked, alarmed.

"Praxissubolianism," Helen invented. Nikola gave her an incredulous look, but she just gave him a quick smile back.

"And you think I might have this prax . . . whatever? What about the kids?"

"We will need to check them also, but first we would like to take a cheek swab from you . . ."

". . . and a blood sample," Nikola added.

Cox was frowning but said, "Well, okay. Can you do this here or do we need to go to a hospital?"

"We're fully equipped to handle it," Helen replied while Nikola got out a swab and syringe. He got the samples efficiently and went to the van to process them, while Helen collected data from Cox on possible symptoms (none) and the locations of his family members.

"My son, Paul, lives in Flint, my daughter Melissa in Traverse City. Paul doesn't have any children." Then the old man added with obvious embarrassment, "He married his boyfriend Brian, so he probably never will. But I suppose Brian has been exposed. Melissa married John Baumgartner, and she has four kids. The two younger live at home, the twin girls are living up at the cabin."

Helen just smiled, nodded, and took down addresses. By the time she finished, Nikola was back with the results. He just nodded to her and said, "Sixteen percent."

Nikola took out the de-vamper and Helen said, "You should roll up your sleeve Mr. Cox."

Her techie gave her a look- they both knew the instrument worked perfectly well through clothing. But Nikola just gave a little shrug and said, "You will likely feel a tingle, might hurt a little but that will quickly subside." He applied the de-vamper and in a few minutes they were done and out the door.

Nikola asked, "Roll up your sleeve?"

"He thinks we're applying medication, which would not be very sanitary through clothing."

"Ah. All part of the act. So where to next?"

"Flint is closer, we can do the son today yet and the daughter tomorrow."

"Do you think we really need to do him? If he's not exhibiting signs of vampirism and he'll never have children . . ."

"Being gay does not prevent one from having children. These days there are all sorts of ways of accomplishing that as you should know. If your theory is correct, and the senior Mr. Cox's percentage does support it, then both Paul and Brian may be high percentage as well. And even if they never have children to raise themselves, either might donate to a sperm bank."

"That's a cheery thought," Nikola said. "In a couple of generations we could have all sorts of hot spots in this area. But at least it's random chance from a sperm bank, so it wouldn't necessarily go to a woman with a high percentage of vampire DNA. What about granddad, did he ever . . ."

"No, I asked him."

"What was the name of that disease again?"

"Oh dear, I should have kept it simple. Praxissubonerism?"

"Maybe it was Praxisulonarism?"

They looked at each other. Helen said, "Well, Mr. Cox won't remember what I said anyway."

"We can hope."

Arriving in Flint, they found the address for Paul Cox in a working class neighborhood. No one was home when they knocked at the door, so they waited. In about forty minutes an old Ford pickup pulled into the driveway and a chunky Asian man got out.

They approached him on the drive and Helen said, "We're looking for Paul Cox."

"He lives here. I'm Brian Cox. I took his name when we got married," he added defensively. "Is there a problem?"

"There could be. We're from the CDC, and you both may have been exposed to a potentially dangerous condition from his mother. Will he be home soon?"

"Yeah, he should be here in about a half hour. I need to start dinner, why don't you come in and tell me about it while I cook."

While Brian started making pork chops and potatoes, Helen explained their mission and Nikola took his samples. By the time Paul Cox arrived, Nikola had already determined Brian's vampire DNA percentage to be eleven percent. The first thing Paul asked upon hearing the story was, "What is the condition called?"

At the same time Helen and Nikola both said, "Praxissubolianism," and gave each other a quick grin. They always came through in the clutch.

Paul's vampire DNA was thirty-one percent. Helen and Nikola suppressed their alarm at such a high reading and Nikola treated both men without any fuss. They both said they had never contributed to a sperm bank or fathered any children. Helen hoped they were telling the truth, and they left the couple to their dinner.

Helen and Nikola headed north again. It was too late in the day to go all the way to Traverse City, so they found a decent motel near Saginaw and they settled down for the night.

They were both looking forward to completing their mission the next day and heading home. They settled into the strange bed.

Nikola softly muttered into her ear, "Demoted to technical support and not even 'Doctor Tesla'."

Helen laughed and pulled him in close, and he found better and far more enjoyable things to do than complain.


	7. Chapter 7

In the morning they got an early start, and arrived in Saginaw midmorning. It had snowed lightly overnight and they found two people out shoveling at the address for John and Melissa Baumgartner.

Nikola grabbed his lab coat and they approached the two people. One was a middle-aged man, the other a teenage boy.

"Mr. Baumgartner?" Helen asked.

"Yes, are you here about the genetic condition?"

"Indeed. Your father-in-law called you?"

"Yeah. Joe, finish up here, will you?" John escorted Helen and Nikola inside.

Melissa met them in the living room. "Is this really serious?" she asked. "I've never heard of a genetic condition that is catching."

"It is quite unusual," Helen agreed, wanting to get off of a difficult subject to explain. "But it is simple to take care of. If you would let my technician take saliva and blood samples from everyone, we can make this quick."

Nikola took samples from John, Melissa, and their daughter Halley, called in from another room. Joe soon joined them and Nikola took all four samples out to the van to process. Helen filled in the time asking about the oldest two children, the twin girls mentioned by their grandfather.

"Their names are Rebecca and Ramona? How old are they?"

John and Melissa exchanged glances. Melissa replied, "Seventeen," while John sent Joe and Halley to their rooms.

John said, "They live up north in the cabin. It's actually pretty nice, my father-in-law's place, has indoor plumbing, central heating, electricity and everything."

Melissa added, "They're doing their senior year home schooled via the computer."

Helen asked, "Why aren't they living here? Please be honest with me, if they are showing signs of the condition we need to know."

Nikola returned then and showed Helen a printout with his results. Melissa's vampire DNA percentage was thirty, John's twenty-seven, and their children forty-three and forty-five. Helen nodded her understanding and turned back to the Baumgartners.

"I'm afraid all four of you have the condition, Joe and Halley approaching the critical mark. Let us treat them first, and then you can tell us about your older girls while we treat you."

The two teenagers were called back and Nikola applied the de-vamper to their arms. They left again and he did the adults while John said, "Becca and Mona had an eating disorder. They didn't want anything but liquids because they had problems keeping down solid foods."

Melissa continued, "They were both nervous, had trouble sleeping, lost weight, and were snappish and angry all the time. We took them to the doctor over and over, but he couldn't find anything wrong with them. There was no fever, no other symptoms. He tried various medications, but nothing worked."

"The girls started staying out at night, breaking curfew," John said. "There was nothing we could do to stop them. We even tried locking their door from the outside, but then they just went out the window. Finally, they themselves came up with the suggestion of going to the cabin. They thought the fresh air and clean water might help. I took them up there, willing to try anything at that point. I stayed with them for two weeks, and they were better, drinking more liquids, and they stopped losing weight, started looking healthier and acting more normally."

"We got them signed up for school with an on-line place," Melissa said. "I know they're supposed to have an adult with them, but we talk to them every couple of days on Skype, and they are doing well in school. The girls really are quite responsible, and they are doing so much better up there."

John said, "The thing is, I work and Melissa does too, part time, and we have the younger kids to look after. We just couldn't stay there with them, and they didn't want to come back."

Helen just nodded during this recitation, and Nikola faded into the background. They both were pretty sure the twins were turning, or had already become vampires. But the teens wouldn't know what was happening to them, wouldn't understand what they were or how to handle it. Moving to a distant cabin was perhaps a good idea, Helen and Nikola would find out when they got there.

"I understand," Helen told the troubled parents. "These are signs that the condition is manifesting, and we need to get to them as soon as possible. We'll probably need directions as well as the address, and we need to go right away."

"You can help them?" Melissa asked hopefully.

"We can. You saw yourself how simple the treatment is, and it's very effective," Helen responded, trying to reassure the girls' parents.

John and Melissa eagerly gave them the information, and said they would Skype the girls and let them know help was on the way. Helen looked at Nikola, and he shook his head.

"I think that might not be wise," he said. "Right, Doctor Magnus? Sometimes people with this condition have been known to flee being helped. They can get very confused and act against their own self-interest."

"But they don't seem confused when we talk to them," John protested.

"Mr. Tesla is correct," Helen said. "You only speak to them for short periods of time; you aren't observing their behavior twenty-four hours a day. They know you very well, they know exactly what to say to you. They may very well still be completely rationale, but they may not, and we don't want to lose them when we're so close to being able to cure them."

"They'll be able to come home, go back to their high school and everything?" Melissa asked.

"There's a very good chance, but I can't promise anything before I examine them," Helen said. To Nikola, she said, "We need to go."

He beat her to the van and they headed out. Helen just said, "Nikola?"

"If we're lucky, they wanted to go to the cabin to have better access to animal blood. If we're unlucky, they just wanted to get out of sight of their parents before they tumbled to the kids drinking human blood from their buds."

"So you think they are vampires?"

"Yeah, and they're smart enough not to show it physically to their family. Two seventeen-year-old vampire girls could be a big problem, especially if they think they're some kind of monsters and they've given up hope of ever being normal again."

Helen gave him a sideways glance while driving as fast as she thought was safe. "We'll be in danger from them?"

"I don't know. Helen, did you bring your gun?"

"Yes, I have my forty-five. I do have experience shooting a certain vampire, so I brought my large caliber. Would it be safe to shoot them if necessary?"

"I have no idea. It depends on how far it's gone. In any case, I can't handle both of them at the same time, so maybe when we get there you lock yourself in the van until I find out their condition."

"Nikola, if they have become vampires and they are drinking human blood . . ."

Nikola interrupted her, quietly. "They are not Michael, Helen. They're twin girls who have been raised by different parents in a different situation in different times. Besides, I have the de-vamper now. I wish to God I'd had it for Mike; I didn't, but I have it now, no one has to die regardless of what those girls are doing."

Helen just nodded, and they rode in silence.

A light snow began as they turned off of the highway onto a local road and drove for miles. It ended as Helen slowed the van, looking for the drive to the cabin. At last she eased the vehicle into something that looked like a snowy cow path to Nikola, and they bumped slowly along, branches scraping the sides from time to time. It was late afternoon when they finally arrived at a small clearing.

There was a very nice-looking log house and a garage with a circular drive. Helen pulled up to the front door and parked. She went up to the door with Nikola hovering at her side, ready to intervene if necessary. But no one answered her knock.

They waited, and then Nikola shook his head at her; he didn't hear anything in the house. He walked to the side of the house and disappeared from her view. She heard him call her name, and followed.

He was in the back, a little way from the house. "Tracks. Looks like the right size footprints for two teenage girls," he said, pointing at the ground. As Helen approached he added, "They go out but I haven't found any coming back."

Helen nodded and said, "They can't be far, it's only been an hour since the snow started and less than a half hour since it stopped."

"Do you want to follow or wait?"

"We'd better go after them. Their parents might have warned them in spite of us asking them not to."

"Got your gun?

"Yes. Do you have the de-vamper?"

"Of course. I'll go first, just in case they're waiting for us."

"A sensible precaution," Helen said, and they headed into the dense, shadowy mix of pine and oak ahead.


	8. Chapter 8

They followed the girls' trail for over thirty minutes until it split.

Helen said, "You go left, I'll go right."

But Nikola shook his head. "No, we stay together. Shooting one of them will only delay an attack, not stop it. Besides, they'll rejoin each other eventually, even if it's back at the cabin."

"Nikola, why do you think they split up? Do they know we're tracking them?"

The vampire looked around and shrugged. "Maybe, we haven't been especially quiet. But they might just be hunting and have a better chance of game for both of them separately."

"Then I suppose it doesn't matter which we follow." She started after one set of tracks and Nikola followed.

They tramped for a few minutes. Then they heard a commotion ahead and saw a flash of someone between the trees ahead. They both ran forward, Nikola taking the lead as they came into a small opening surrounded by trees. One of the girls was there with something small and furry pressed to her face. She moved the animal down to her side when she saw them and snarled with a mouthful of fangs.

Nikola moved a few feet forward and stopped, empty hands up where she could see them. "We're not here to hurt you or your sister or to take away your meal."

She looked at them doubtfully. Helen moved a little closer, but still a pace behind Nikola and said, "My name is Helen Magnus, and this is Nikola. We're from the Sanctuary, and we are here to help both of you. Are you Becca or Mona?"

"Becca, but you can't help us, nobody can. What do you really want?"

Nikola said soothingly, "Becca, you and your sister are vampires. It's a genetic anomaly, perfectly natural, and no, you are not monsters. I know, because . . ." Nikola vamped, ". . . I'm a vampire too, see?"

Becca stared, open-mouthed. Then she recovered herself and said, "So, are you like, our real father or something?"

He shook his head. "No, your vampire ancestors are from generations ago."

Helen said, "Becca, the Sanctuary is just that, protection for what we call abnormals—intelligent non-humans like vampires, and also protection for humanity against abnormals who would harm them. Do you and your sister just drink animal blood?"

The answer came from behind them. "No, not always." The second girl walked past them to her sister, watching them carefully all the way. Becca handed Mona the rabbit she'd caught, and Mona drank briefly too.

Becca said, "At first, we didn't know what to do, you know? The first blood I took was from my boyfriend, Steve. I was just sort of giving him a hickey and then I went too far, and his blood was so good."

Mona finished the rabbit and tossed the carcass aside. "My first blood was from my friend Gina. We were at her house and she cut her finger chopping vegetables, and I just took it and sucked it. I think it freaked her out, 'cause then she didn't want to hang out with me anymore."

Her sister continued, "We figured some things out, like we both threw up solid food but we could drink soda and stuff, and alcohol didn't make us drunk so we could egg on guys to drink, and then they'd let us take their blood like they thought it was sex or something."

Mona looked at Becca and added, "But we both started going too far, taking too much."

Becca nodded. "Yeah, Steve started getting pale, and he didn't have any energy and the coach threatened to kick him off the football team 'cause he thought he wasn't getting enough sleep or something."

"Anyway, animal blood isn't so bad, although rabbit is kind of, well, it's not totally yucky, but it's not great," said Mona. "At this Sanctuary, would we get blood to drink?"

"Of course," Nikola reassured her. "I can give you a choice of flavors from my private stock. And there are other vampires, a whole community of them you could live with, if you like."

"But you do have a choice," Helen reiterated. "You can live as vampires, but we can also cure you. You would be human just like before, able to eat normally and go back to your friends and your high school."

Mona and Becca looked at each other for a moment. "What do you think?" Mona asked her sister.

"I dunno. But if they can cure vampirism, and he hasn't gotten cured, there must be a reason. What about it Mr. Vampire, why are you still a vampire?"

Nikola hesitated a little. He could tell Helen wanted him to de-vamp the twins so they could be returned to their family and a normal human life. But it was only fair if they knew the whole score, and after generations of inbreeding the vampire community could use some new blood.

Finally he said, "Being a vampire has both its good and bad sides. On the good side, you don't get sick, you're strong, fast, and heal quickly. And you don't age, so if you are careful you can live a very long time. I won't say forever, but I know vampires over a thousand years old. On the down side, your diet is somewhat limited, but the worst part is, you lose your family. You could expect to outlive your parents anyway, but you will likely outlive your brother and sister as well as their children and grandchildren. You lose touch; you can't exactly show up looking seventeen and say you're someone's great aunt. I doted on my nieces and nephews, but had to pretend to be old for their children, and after that it just got to be too difficult to explain myself. I spent a long time basically alone, but then I found other vampires so I can make friends now with people who will be around for centuries."

Mona asked timidly, "Do we have to decide right this minute?"

Helen shook her head. "No. I think it would be a good idea to go back to the cabin where you can discuss it and we can answer any questions that come up."

The girls agreed with that. As they started back, Nikola added, "And if you want, you could visit the other vampires for a while before deciding. Once I de-vamp you I can't re-vamp you. You will be human forever."

"That might be a good idea," Becca said, "although I don't think I want to lose my family.

"But you'd still have me, and we could live a thousand years," Mona countered. The girls continued to discuss it as they walked, when suddenly Nikola stopped and held up his hand. Everyone stopped.

Off to one side, furry gray dog-like shapes were pacing them.

"Wolves," Nikola said quietly. "Don't run, don't make any sudden moves. Back to back, they'll circle us." The pack was already doing so, and Helen estimated there were fifteen to twenty of them.

"We could just jump up into a tree," Mona whispered.

"Helen can't jump like that, and you don't want to let them tree you, you could be here a long time," Nikola replied. "Just stand still and be ready, I'm going to try something." He wanted to avoid a messy, bloody, vampires versus wolves fight. He was sure they would win, but he doubted two seventeen-year-old girls would enjoy going claw to fang with wolves and end up covered in blood and chunks of wolf.

"Nikola?" Helen asked. She had her pistol out ready to defend them, but turned her head to watch him.

Nikola actually de-vamped. "I do have more than one talent, you know." He stepped out away from the group toward the wolves. Helen could see he was concentrating; then electricity flickered around his hands, and balls of it grew in his palms. Nikola tossed them at the two closest wolves, generated more and flung long arcs into the animals off to his sides.

The wolves yelped and leaped away, two with burning fur that stank badly until they figured out to roll in the shallow snow. But all of the animals were quickly gone.

"Wow," said Becca. "Can we do that too?"

"Sorry no," replied Helen. "That happens to be a unique talent of Nikola's. Best to stay back from him until he settles down."

Nikola turned back to her with a grin. The snow had melted within a ten foot circle of him, but he wasn't actually smoking. There were still little flickers of electricity around him, though, which slowly died out.

"Pretty cool, huh?" he asked.

The girls just said, "Yeah," in unison. Helen went to him and said, "Absolutely extremely cool. You can be a handy fellow to have around." She kissed him and he just looked satisfied with himself and in a very good mood.

Becca asked, "Are you like his girlfriend or something? I didn't know humans and vampires could, uh, you know."

"Helen is actually not exactly human, and she happens to be my wife."

The girls de-vamped as they continued walking back to the cabin. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound that grew louder. The ground began to shake. Nikola and Helen looked at each other. She shrugged, he shook her head; neither had any idea what was coming.

An unnaturally huge bull came charging through the trees, and all four people tried to move aside out of its path, but it swerved and slid to a stop in front of them. Its eyes were not the eyes of an animal; there was intelligence in them. Then the animal began to glow and change. In a few seconds it had been replaced by a huge man.

It was obvious to all of them this was not a human being. He was around nine feet tall but well-proportioned and muscular, and draped in white robes. His long hair and beard were gray, but other than that he didn't look more than middle-aged.

Only Helen understood him as he boomed in Greek, "At last! My blood has shown itself!" Mona and Becca just looked confused. Nikola watched Helen; if it was a language he didn't know, odds were that Helen did, and he was right.

As she stepped past him, she slipped him her phone and gave a tilt of her head to the girls. While she faced the giant, Nikola handed the phone to Becca and whispered, "If we get separated, hit three on speed dial and talk to Will Zimmerman."

In Greek, Helen said, "We don't understand. Who are you and in what way has your blood shown itself?"

The giant had no interest in her. He brushed her aside, knocking her down, and advanced toward Nikola. Nikola moved sideways to interpose himself between the giant and Helen. She could see he was about to vamp.

"Nikola, don't. There's something going on here we don't understand, let's not escalate this just yet," she said as she regained her feet.

Nikola spoke to the huge man in English. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The giant wrinkled his nose, but he replied in the same language. "Gah, you speak Barbarian. We'll have to fix that." He reached out an oversized hand and took Nikola by the shoulder. Helen's eyes widened as she realized that was the exact same gesture John Druitt used when he was about to transport someone. She threw herself at Nikola, making contact just in time for the three of them to disappear.

Becca and Mona were left standing alone in the woods. Mona said, "Well, that was totally weird."

Becca replied, "Duh. Our whole lives are now weird. I can't get a signal on this phone out here; we'll have to call from the cabin. Come on."


	9. Chapter 9

Will was in his office when his cell rang. The calling number was Helen's personal line, so he leaned back in his chair and answered with, "Hey, what's up?"

There was a momentary silence on the other end. Then a young female voice said, "Um, is this Will Zipper?"

Will sat up. That was not Magnus. "Zimmerman. Who is this and how did you get that phone?"

"Well, I'm Becca Baumgartner and I'm here with my sister, Mona. The vampire guy gave it to me and said to call you if we got separated from him and that Helen lady."

Okay, Helen had told him about the simple mission she and Tesla were going on to Michigan to head off a problem with a human family that could turn vampire. The last name matched part of the family. "Wait. Tesla gave you Magnus's phone and then what happened?"

"Well, this big bull ran up and changed into a big man, then they yammered in some foreign language and then they all disappeared."

Will ran his hand through his hair. What the hell? "I think you better start from the beginning. But first tell me where you are."

The girls gave him their address and directions, and Will wrote it down. Mona said, "So Nikola said we could try out living with the vampires." Becca added, "And he said we could try his private stock."

"Of wine? And why would you want to live with vampires?" Will asked, confused and frustrated.

"No, of blood, Silly, and because we're vampires, of course," Becca said, starting to lose patience. Mona added, "So when is someone going to come and get us, because we could really use a good meal, you know?"

"We'll have someone there first thing in the morning. Did the big man say anything about who he was or where he was going? Did you see which direction the big man took Magnus and Tesla?"

"Nope, they just went 'poof' and they were gone."

"This big man, was he bald? Did you hear the name 'John" mentioned?"

"No. Look, we have to go now, we have homework. We'll talk to whoever comes in the morning." The girls hung up.

Will considered calling back, but decided it would be a waste of time. Obviously, things hadn't gone as planned, and he could get more out of them in person. He pulled up the file Helen had left him on her mission and sent it to Henry with a note to read it and then come see him. He started making travel arrangements for two. Somebody else could do paperwork and answer phones for a couple of days, he was going to go find out what happened to Magnus—oh, and Tesla, too.

The giant, Nikola, and Helen arrived at the top of a long flight of marble stairs, outdoors in a sunny, warm climate. Helen was slightly off balance from her lunge at Nikola, but he grabbed her arm and steadied her.

"Behold," the giant said, "Mount Olympus!"

The two people from the Sanctuary looked around. There was no mountain in sight, so they must be on top of it or something. But at the bottom of the stairs was a huge plaza with fountains and statues, and market stalls and carts at the far end. People that appeared normal-sized wearing very simple tunic or toga style dress hurried across it on errands. There were other buildings fronted with columns around the plaza, all up flights of stairs but none as high up as they were. There were also streets running off in various directions with more normal buildings that looked like shops and houses.

Behind them was a huge temple with forty foot high columns. They looked at each other, and Nikola said, "I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this."

Helen just said, "Hmm." She turned to the large man and said, "I presume you are Zeus, or do you prefer Jupiter?"

The big man smiled at her, pleased at being recognized. "So we are still known to you mortals. King Zeus will do. You are a wise woman, what is your name?"

"I'm Helen Magnus, and this is Nikola Tesla."

Zeus frowned. "Helen the Great? Perhaps, we shall see. But you my great grandson, your name is . . . inappropriate. I shall call you Nikus . . . yes, that sits better on the ear. Come now, you need to be dressed properly before I introduce you."

This time he placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and they appeared in a small white high-ceilinged room with a hard stone floor. There were several lounging couches and a few chests and tables. Zeus waved his hand and a set of clothing appeared on each of two of the couches.

"Remove those barbarian outfits and put on these. I will send someone to guide you shortly." He disappeared.

Nikola turned to Helen, who was removing her winter coat, scarf, and gloves. "Zeus? Why would he think I'm related to him?"

"God of thunderbolts. You were tossing a few, just before he showed up."

Nikola said, "I guess that makes sense," as he took off his own coat and gloves. "I've generated electricity before, used it, even tossed it a little, but I was off the grid this time. My electrical output wasn't masked by power lines, although I don't know how he detected it."

Helen held up a little tunic and a narrow leather belt. "This appears to be my entire costume along with sandals. Oh well, I've worn less on the beach."

Alarmed, Nikola turned to his own costume and held it up, a duplicate of hers in a slightly larger size with a wider belt. "No. No way."

"If we're really on Mount Olympus the place will be crawling with gods and goddesses. We may have to fight to get out of here, but maybe not. In any case, starting a battle over how we're dressed is not on. With a little luck we'll be able to talk our way out of this." Helen started changing.

He just kept staring, horrified, at his outfit. "I can't. I really can't, Helen."

She said in a stern voice, "Put it on Nikola, that's an order from your boss. We are going to blend in and make nice, unless you have suddenly developed teleportation abilities. No? Then change."

Slowly, Nikola began to change too.

Helen actually looked fetching in her outfit, the sleeveless tunic reaching to mid thigh and the belt accentuating her figure. Nikola just stood hunched and miserable in his, the tunic barely covering the essentials and exposing long pale legs that were never seen outside his bedroom.

Helen tucked her pistol firmly in her belt, and Nikola did the same with the de-vamper. When they were as ready as they were going to be, she opened the door to find an eight foot tall woman in a white and black draped outfit waiting for them

The woman frowned. "No, you must leave all your barbarian things in the room". She waved her hand and pistol, de-vamper, and underwear all disappeared off their wearers and reappeared on the couches.

Helen was startled. It was an odd sensation, having her bra and panties removed remotely without removing her outer clothing. Nikola froze.

The giantess said, "That's better. I am Athena. Hold still, Nikus." She placed her hand on top of Nikola's head, closed her eyes and did _something_. Nikola jerked and she removed her hand.

"Can you understand me now?" Athena asked him in Greek.

Slowly, he said in Greek, "Yeah. And to think I spent all that time studying."

She placed her hand on his head again and repeated the process. "And do you understand me now?" she asked again, this time in Latin.

Nikola replied, "Absolutely. Lady, you could make a fortune among the undergrads at Oxford."

Athena gave him a cool look and said, "I but do my father's bidding. Come with me."

They followed her through several corridors to a huge hall. The center was well lit, but the edges of the room were in shadows. There were numerous large couches scattered around, most occupied by relaxing giants. Tables strewn throughout held platters of fruits and meats, and there were bowls of some white substance. Pitchers of a dark liquid and goblets both full and empty completed the repast.

The giants, male and female, were dressed in a wide array of clothing. Some wore draperies that covered them from neck to toes and wrists. One man wore a winged helmet and winged sandals and nothing in between. One particularly heavily muscled man wore only a white kilt, belt with sword, sandals, and head and wrist bands. The women were generally modestly dressed except one that had one shoulder and breast bare.

In age, the giants appeared to range from twenty to fifty, although even those that appeared older had no wrinkles or age spots, age showing only in a little gray in the hair. All of them were beautifully proportioned with symmetrical faces and luxurious hair, and moved gracefully.

Athena walked away from Helen and Nikola and took her place on one of the couches. Zeus rose from his and announced, "Gods and Goddesses, I present to you my many times great grandson, Nikus, and his slave Helen. They are very young, hardly more than children, so treat them with tolerance for their ignorance."

All eyes turned toward them. Nikola didn't care much for being called a child, but he couldn't really argue since they were all thousands of years older than he was. He said, "Greetings, Lords and Ladies. This is actually . . ."

Zeus interrupted, "Come Nikus, demonstrate your heritage." He gestured Nikola over to the side of the room, away from the couches. Helen just stayed where she was and observed.

Nikola gave the assemblage a nervous smile and tugged at the hem of his tunic. He went over to where Zeus had directed him, and focused. He had to make this good. If he failed and embarrassed Zeus, he had a feeling he and Helen both would feel Zeus's wrath, and it wouldn't feel good.

He generated power for a few seconds. He could feel all of his hair stand out from his body, and then he poured all the electricity out through his hand as he tossed it forward.

It shot out a good thirty feet with a respectable "boom". He felt pretty proud of his performance until he realized he was just getting a little polite applause from the gods.

Zeus laughed. "Not bad for a young lad. It definitely proves you are my descendant. Let me demonstrate how it's really done."

The god didn't hesitate; he casually tossed a huge bolt a hundred feet with an ear shattering "BOOM" and blew a hole in the far wall. "There is something to aspire to, Nikus!" he said, as he waved his hand and repaired the wall. He got a much louder, more enthusiastic round of applause.

Zeus continued, "Enjoy the feast, my boy," and gestured toward the couches. Nikola headed toward an empty couch at the far end of the grouping from where Zeus sat. Helen joined him on the way, and whispered, "Keep your knees together when you sit."

He gave her a confused look, but then understood. He really shouldn't flash a bunch of gods and goddesses, even though there was a mostly naked guy not that far away.

Nikola suddenly swerved over toward another couch, and one glance told Helen why. The god reclining on the neighboring couch had a table in front of him that included four wine bottles, two unopened.


	10. Chapter 10

Like all the couches around them, the one they sat on was large enough for one of the gods to recline on and roomy enough for both of them. No one was paying any attention to them, so Helen decided to use the moment for a quiet talk. Nikola's attention was somewhat diverted to the wine on the next table, but there was the entire evening for that.

"Nikola, are you all right?" Helen asked first.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"Athena played in your head. She may have given you some linguistic abilities, but we don't know if she did anything else."

"Well, I still feel like me, but how would I know? It just felt like she turned on a switch, nothing else. I suppose she actually forced some neural connections. She is the goddess of science and knowledge after all."

"Who did we name our son after?" Helen asked.

"Ah, a test. I like that. My brother, of course, but we anglicized Dane to Danny."

"All right, but if you start doing something odd and I let you know, keep in mind you had a goddess playing around in your skull."

"Duly noted."

"How are you feeling otherwise? Are you getting hungry yet?"

The vampire shook his head. "Not really, and I can go for a while without. I had a snack pack in my pocket, so if we can get back to our clothes there is at least that. And since I saw meat on the tables as we walked past, there must be animals here. I should be fine."

Helen nodded, relieved at one less problem to worry about. "Nikola, thank you for telling Mona and Becca that you couldn't turn them back into vampires if you de-vamped them. I know, of course, that you could, but once they decide hopefully they won't look back and rue their decisions, whatever they are."

"I don't really want to be running back and forth at the whim of some teenage girls. I do have better things to do, so better they make one decision and be done with it."

Looking around, Helen commented, "We can't possibly be on Earth, this complex would have been spotted from the air no matter how remote it might be."

"Agreed. I'm thinking pocket universe—just a little side place of their very own from which they can pop back and forth to our world."

"In which case we are totally dependent on these people to get home. As I recall my mythology, a number of them visited several thousand years ago, not just Zeus, so we need just one sympathetic god or goddess."

"Yeah, but I'm going to have to take the de-vamper with us."

"You created that one; surely you could build another one if necessary."

Just then a low table laden with the same sort of foods and drinks found on the other tables walked smoothly into the light and stopped in front of their couch. Helen moved away from it a little, while Nikola carefully eased himself off the couch and down on the floor where he proceeded to peer underneath it.

He kept up the conversation though. "Um, well, yes, if I had the right materials. The problem is some of the rare earths and one really, really rare stone."

"How rare?" she asked, concerned. "Are you finding anything under there?"

"No, there's no mechanism." Nikola slid back up on the couch and admitted, "Probably one of a kind. I might be able to work with something else, but replacing the de-vamper would be very expensive, take at least months, and might not even be possible."

"All right, so goal number one is to retrieve it as soon as we can, and keep it on our persons. The other thing we need to do is make friends." Helen gave a side nod of her head. "Go ahead."

"Okay, but let me leave you with one little thought. Vampires can't teleport or turn themselves invisible, or change their forms very much, but these gods seem to have all sorts of talents. Have you considered that the Source Blood might not have come from a vampire at all, but rather from one of these folks?"

Nikola left Helen with a stunned look on her face and went to the next couch. The giant there looked a bit sloppy, his hair tangled and wine stains on his toga. But he smiled a bit vaguely at Nikola and sat up, swinging his legs off of the couch and patting the seat next to him.

The god said, "Ho there, great, great grandson of the mighty Zeus. I'm Dionysus, or Bacchus if you prefer, but you can call me Di. Do you like wine, or do you prefer nectar?"

Nikola took the proffered seat. "Di? Pleased to meet you. Wine for me, although I've never tried the nectar."

Dionysus poured Nikola a cup of wine and said, "I prefer the taste of wine, but of course, we can't get drunk on it, can we? That's where the nectar comes in."

Nikola savored the wine; it was quite a fine vintage. But he also started eyeing the nectar pitcher. "Good to know. I'll try that next."

The god gestured toward the bowl of white lumps on his table. "Have some ambrosia too; it goes well with the nectar."

Nikola nodded, but had no intention of trying to eat anything. Throwing up on one of the gods or goddesses seemed like a bad plan for making friends.

Looking Nikola up and down, Di chuckled a little. "Dear old Father Zeus dressed you up as a child. Must be drafty under there."

"That explains why Helen and I are the only ones dressed like this; believe me, it's not my normal costume. So, do you get down to Earth often?" the vampire asked.

"Of course, where do you think I get the wine? I wouldn't drink any of the crude stuff the peasants hereabout stomp out. Besides, there's Monte Carlo, Vegas, Rio, just lots of places to party." He leaned over toward Nikola and added, "Real parties not this lying about eating and drinking the same stuff for thousands of years and listening to the same crappy chatter over and over. Bo-o-o-ring."

"Do you ever get to New York? I'm sort of an expert on all the wildest places, you know, off the beaten track that only the locals know. Maybe the three of us could ditch this and go."

"No, Father Zeus wouldn't like us leaving in the middle of his party, and staying on his good side is worth the effort. But maybe tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan. Give me fill up on that nectar, would you?" The slightly drunken god complied. Since they weren't going anywhere right away, Nikola decided that getting drunk himself was a good idea. The nectar was tasty, and much easier than doing a chemistry experiment and inverting molecules just for a little buzz.

Helen was nibbling on the spread before her and eavesdropping on Nikola's conversation. She tried a little of everything—chicken, lamb, olives, cheeses, fruits, the white stuff that she now knew was ambrosia, and a little of the nectar. And she considered Nikola's idea of the origin of the Source Blood.

The fact that John and Nigel received abilities from the Source Blood serum that vampires didn't have had been explained at the time of the experiment as being recessive DNA that the serum had activated. But she'd never really confirmed that scientifically and now it was too late to take blood samples from either of them. Her father had certainly believed he had procured a sample of ancient vampire blood, but he wasn't infallible and had never really explained how he had acquired it.

Practically speaking, it didn't really matter. What had happened, had happened. She might have approached things differently if she had believed the Source Blood to be from ancient gods rather than vampires, but over a hundred years had passed and the question was moot.

She stopped drinking the nectar when she overheard she started feeling a little light-headed. One of them needed to stay sober so they could retrieve the de-vamper, Nikola's snack, and her gun too, if they had the chance. She could see it wasn't going to be Nikola.

Di said, "You know, that little slave girl of yours is kind of cute. Since you like my wine, how about we trade? One night with the girl for a bottle of wine?"

Nikola hesitated; not that he wanted to trade away Helen, but he did want the wine. "Um, well, the wine is good, but . . ."

He snuck a glance at Helen. She was looking back, amused rather than angry.

The vampire continued, "See, she's not actually a slave, she's my wife, so I have to say 'no' unless I want the rest of my life to be hell. No offense."

The god of wine frowned, shrugged, and finished off his cup of wine. But after that he pouted, and the conversation died.

"Nikus!" a female voice called. Nikola looked around and saw an older goddess on the couch next to Zeus summoning him. He put down his cup and wended his way over to her.

When he reached her, she demanded, "Did I hear you say that human is your wife?"

"Yes, she is."

"That is totally unacceptable. You are a godling and much too young for marriage. Zeus, did you know this?"

The king of the gods looked over and said, "No, I thought she was just a loyal slave. I agree, Hera, he can't be married to a human."

Hera turned back to Nikola. She snapped imperiously, "You will be separated immediately and you will forget about this woman. You need time to learn proper behavior in your new station."

Nikola wasn't having any of that. He fired back, "I may not be thousands of years old, but I am a hundred and sixty-one and I certainly know my own mind. Helen is my wife, I love her, and neither you nor anyone else is going to change that. You may be a goddess, Hera, but you don't rule me and you should mind your own business."

Hera was initially shocked and then angry at being spoken to in that way. Zeus said, "Your opinion is irrelevant, Nikus. The matter is decided. And you must be punished for your disrespect to Mother Hera, Queen of the Gods."

Nikola glanced back to see how Helen was taking this, and then froze. She wasn't there, and neither was Dionysus. On the god's table were two empty wine bottles, and on Nikola's table was one full one, the fourth having disappeared along with Helen and the drunken god.


	11. Chapter 11

Will and Henry arrived in Chicago late in the day and took a Sanctuary airplane overnight to Detroit. Commercial would have been cheaper, but impossible with what they were carrying. Will had both a pistol and a stunner, and Henry had a stunner and an insulated bag with a selection of blood from Nikola's stock.

They rented a car and started driving, taking turns and napping while the other one drove. They got to the cabin just before noon. The front door opened as they got out, and the twins were there, watching them uncertainly.

Will called out, "Hi, I'm Will Zimmerman. We talked on the phone. This is Henry. We're from the Sanctuary."

Becca and Mona seemed to relax then, and invited them in.

As they sat down, Henry said, "We're really worried about our friends. Can you tell us exactly what happened?"

"Um, sure, but what about the blood? Did you bring any?" one of the girls asked. "I'm Mona by the way."

Henry showed them what he had brought. Becca chose pronghorn and Mona whitetail deer, and after they both had taken a long drink, Becca told them the story.

Will looked at Henry. "That couldn't have been John. He can't shape change, right?"

Henry nodded. "Right. I did a little research before we left. An oversized guy who can use animal shapes and shows up right after Tesla throws electricity around sounds a lot like Jupiter. But it can't be Jupiter."

"It can't?" Will responded. "Considering we have vampires, witches, basilisks and mermaids confirmed as real, I don't see why not."

Henry turned back to the girls. "You don't have any idea where they went? Think carefully. The giant didn't mention anything that might give us a hint?"

Both of the teens shook their heads. "Sorry, no," Mona said. "He just said something in a foreign language that was about his blood showing itself, and he seemed disgusted by the vampire guy speaking English and said something about fixing it and then he grabbed him, and the lady grabbed the vampire too and they all disappeared."

"And then we called you when we got back here 'cause we couldn't get a signal in the woods," Becca added.

"And that's all we know, so can we go see the other vampires now?" Mona asked. Becca added, "We worked ahead and we've finished our schoolwork for the week, and we're all packed."

Will nodded. "Sure. We have a long drive ahead of us back to Detroit where we'll catch a plane for Chicago, and then transfer to the Sanctuary. You'll stay with us a day or two while the vampires make arrangements for your visit. Sound good?"

Henry said, "And if you think of anything along the way that might help us find Helen and Nikola, please let us know. It's in your own interest that we find them, because Tesla is the only one who can de-vamp you. Without him, you don't get a choice, you're going to end up living with the vampires whether you like it or not."

Mona and Becca looked alarmed and a little frightened at that. "But what if we don't like it? You can't just lock us up with a bunch of people—or whatever—that we don't know."

Will tried to reassure them. "Don't worry, the vampires are pretty friendly, especially since Tesla is their king and related by blood to the lady who is making the decisions over there. We'll make sure you're okay, and if worse comes to worse you can come back and live at the Sanctuary with us."

"We can't live with our family?" asked Becca. Mona added, "Or come back and live here?"

Henry and Will exchanged glances. Neither would be a good idea, but they would handle that problem when it happened, not before. Henry said as reassuringly as he could, "Don't worry about that now. Helen Magnus and Nikola Tesla are pretty much an unbeatable team. Even if we can't find them, the odds are really good that they'll show up on their own."

Will said with false cheer, "They might even be back already. Let's get going. We can be at the Sanctuary by morning if we hustle."

The girls weren't very happy, but at least they had enjoyed their meal and could look forward to a steady diet of good blood without having to go hunt for it, so they agreed. The four piled into the car, the trunk filled with suitcases, and began the journey back to the Sanctuary.

Helen and Dionysus arrived in a field surrounded by woodlands. The sun was down, but the area was lit by a huge bonfire. Helen heard a shriek that startled her, but it turned into laughter and she saw a woman run from the darkness through the light cast by the fire pursued by a man. No, not a man, a satyr with little horns, backwards knees, and furry below the waist. They disappeared into the darkness.

Helen stepped away from the somewhat drunken god and looked around. Beyond the firelight she couldn't see much, but there were voices and here and there a torch burning revealing forest everywhere around them. There wasn't any obvious way out or anywhere to run to, assuming she could outrun the god of orgies.

Helen turned back to Di. "I am not a slave, and you had no right to kidnap me. Take me back to Nikus immediately. He is my husband, and I belong at his side." An outmoded concept, but true to the age when the gods visited earth routinely.

"Oh,bah. Women do as they like, and believe me once you've had a taste of god, you won't want to go back to that little fellow." He reached for her, and she dodged away.

"Don't be tiresome. You can't escape, there's nowhere to go except into the arms of one of my satyrs, and they're not nearly as nice as I am. Resign yourself, my dear, you are mine for the evening, bought and paid for. I'm sure by now Nikus is relaxing with the wine I left him on the couch of one of the goddesses. They are a lusty and curious lot, they won't leave a grandson of King Zeus be lonely for long. Now come here and we'll have some fun."

"I don't care for that sort of fun." Helen dodged again, whacking him in the hip with her doubled fists as he sent past.

Di rubbed the spot. "Want to play rough, huh? Okay little lady, then that's what we'll do."

He came at her again, more focused and intent than before. She didn't dodge, she kicked at his knee. But she was a little too far away and just grazed it as he reached for her and grabbed her ankle. His face lit in triumph just before she kicked his cheek with her other foot. Unfortunately, with only sandals, her kick didn't do much damage but it startled him enough to make him let her go.

The god laughed and dived at her. She scrambled away out of reach and ran out into the dark, heading for the trees and hoping to lose him among them. Helen avoided torch light and almost stepped on a couple twined together on the ground, just spotting them by moonlight when she was right on them. She leaped over and heard Di stumble into them behind her. It was a lucky break since it gained her some ground. The giant's longer legs would soon catch him up to her unless she could get far enough away and hide somewhere, or be able to attack him unaware.

Helen dodged into the trees and immediately slowed. It was very dark, and she had to feel her way. She found a huge tree trunk and slid around to the far side, standing very still and listening. She heard the god approach, slowing also.

"Oh Helen, where are you, my little spicy one?" he called, pinpointing his location for her. Obviously, he hadn't done much fighting in his long life.

She saw him dimly, a pale form moving past her hiding place. She went as high as she could and kicked him in the kidney. He staggered and turned, and she connected solidly right between his legs. He gave a strangled gasp and went down, and Helen marched back to the fire. There was no reason for her to hide; her opponent was big, but she was far better at hand-to-hand than he was.

Arriving in the circle of light in the middle of the field, she was immediately approached by a satyr. He was actually shorter than she was and he leered at her suggestively.

She pointed to where Di was in the trees. "Your boss is over there and he needs help. Take one more step toward me, and you will too."

The satyr backed off, looked uncertainly in the direction she had pointed, and then headed that way. Helen crossed her arms and waited. No one else bothered her, and it would be dawn, eventually.

Zeus's arm reached out and grabbed Nikola, pulling him across his lap. Tesla started to vamp, and then froze. No! Vampire characteristics could get him into big trouble with the pretty gods, and struggling was only going to delay his departure to go rescue Helen, wherever she was. Nikola closed his eyes, kept his lips tightly sealed over his fangs, and clenched his fists to keep his claws from extending.

The king of the gods flipped up the back of his rude descendant's tunic, and slapped Nikola's bare butt. And did it again, and again, reddening the flesh. The vampire really, really wanted to tear into Zeus's leg, but he kept his thoughts on Helen and just getting through with this as soon as he could, and waited while the god spanked him thoroughly. It was terribly humiliating, and Tesla was grateful no one from the Sanctuary was there to see it.

And it stung, too, and then actually hurt. Zeus was stronger than he was, and was hitting him full force. Finally, the god pulled him off by the back of his tunic and stood him up. "Now apologize to your queen!" he boomed.

Nikola just stood there for a moment, retracting fangs and the tips of his claws, and making sure his eyes were normal again. Then he stiffly approached Hera and painfully bowed. "I am very sorry for my rudeness, Queen Hera. Please forgive me, my wife has been abducted and I am not myself." There, that was as humble as he could manage.

She gave him a superior smile. "I will forgive you this time, Nikus, but you must learn proper manners. I will think on what punishment I will give you. Meanwhile, I quite enjoyed seeing you spanked like the child you are."

The vampire gritted his teeth that were growing again, pushed them back to human normal, and give her a tight smile and another uncomfortable bow. He backed away before he blurted out something that would delay him further, and went over to Athena.

She was reclining and munching grapes, and laughed a little at him as he approached. "That was an interesting display, little Nikus."

Nikola swallowed and kept control of himself. Before he left, he was really going to have to have some sort of revenge on this lot. He managed another smile and asked, "Lady Athena, could you please tell me where Dionysus might have taken Helen?"

"To his glade, of course. Do you want to go there?"

"Yes, please."

She laughed at him again. "Then take yourself there. I suppose you must go the long way. Out the front of the temple, down the stairs, third temple on the left—go all the way through and take the path. It's about what you would call a mile."

He sketched her another bow, said, "Thank you," and took off running. With his backside still sore, running was distinctly unpleasant, but Helen was in trouble and he needed to rescue her. Besides, it was mostly healed and it would just take time to work out the stiffness. The plaza was well-lit and he took the temple steps two at a time going down, ran to the third temple, and went up those steps three at a time. He startled priests and partiers both as he ran through Dionysus's temple and out the back. The path was easy to see with his vampire vision, even by moonlight.

Nikola raced through the woods to the field, and spotted Helen by the bonfire almost at once. She was by herself and looked bored. He jogged up to her. "Hi. I've come to rescue you."

"That's very good of you, but I already rescued myself. I take it you know the way back?"

"Yeah. Where's Di, I want to have a talk with him."

"Never mind, my foot already had a conversation with the most vulnerable part of his anatomy. You're walking rather stiffly, what happened?"

"Don't ask. Don't ever ask, or bring it up as long as we live."


	12. Chapter 12

They walked together in companionable silence for a while, Nikola keeping them on the path. Helen didn't ask; she didn't have to, she knew he would tell her anything she needed to know immediately, and the rest would come out later. One day when the incident, whatever it was, wasn't quite so raw and he was mellowed out after a good day and some excellent wine, he would tell her.

Nikola broke the silence. "So what do we do now?"

Helen hesitated. She really wasn't sure; dealing with gods face to face was mostly outside of her experience. "I don't know. We certainly aren't blending in very well. Any ideas?"

"Yeah. I want my pants back. And real shoes, and the devamper."

"I can't argue with that, I'm feeling a certain longing for my 'barbarian' clothing and my gun myself."

"But then what? After his encounter with you, good old Di isn't going to be in the mood to help us out and take us back to Earth."

"Perhaps Hephaestos could help us."

"Let's see, that's Vulcan, right?" At Helen's nod, Nikola continued, "He was kind of an outsider, made pretty much everything for all the gods, invented blacksmithing."

"So after we reclaim our things, we could look for his forge, or possibly his temple. All the myths portray him as being helpful and surprisingly nice for one of the gods."

Nikola smiled at her. "We have a plan."

They skirted around Dionysus's temple. By the time they reached the plaza, the sky was beginning to lighten, but the front of every temple was lit with lamps and torches anyway, so there was no problem locating the huge temple of Zeus.

It was early enough—or late enough—that the interior was very quiet. Apparently the party was over. When they reached that area they found it mostly empty, with a few gods and goddesses strewn around on couches asleep. They moved past quietly and headed for the corridors where the changing room was located.

The halls all looked much alike and it took them some time to find the right room. Everything was as they left it, except the things Athena had taken from them were tossed on top of their more neatly laid out clothing. They changed quickly.

Then they headed back through Zeus's temple to reach the front facing the plaza. But they didn't quite make it out.

Dionysus appeared at the entrance in front of them.

"So there you are! Nikus, your slave attacked me, and I demand she be punished accordingly."

Nikola sighed. Was this guy dense, or what? "Di, listen carefully. Helen is not my slave, she is my wife. She did not attack you. She defended herself after you kidnapped her and . . . well, we won't go into details, let's just say you made some unwanted advances that she refused. Now move, we're leaving."

The god's normally happy face was scowling. "I am a god, she is a mere mortal! She has no right to refuse me, she should be grateful for my attention. Come here, woman, or suffer the consequences."

Nikola moved in front of Helen. She could certainly defend herself against Di, but she obviously hadn't made enough of an impression last time. "My turn," he said, and Helen let him. Nikola vamped and snarled, displaying his long sharp teeth and claws.

Dionysus looked stunned, but not afraid. He pointed a finger at Nikola and said, "You! You are not what you claim at all. Zeus must be told of this." He disappeared.

Helen and Nikola didn't hesitate. They took off running down the long stairs to the plaza. They veered right; they'd seen the temples to the left, and knew Hephaestos's wasn't among them, if he even had one. Both scanned the sky for smoke, trying to spot the location of his forge.

But they had no real chance of escaping, not with the gods' ability to simply transport themselves to wherever they chose to be. They were hardly half way across the broad expanse when Zeus appeared in front of them, grabbed them both, and took them back to his temple. He dumped them on the floor and seated himself in a huge throne. Hera sat next to him, and Dionysus stood to the side.

"Well," Hera commented, "Now I have two things to punish you for, Nikus. Rudeness, and lying about your heritage." She seemed pleased about it, which scared Nikola just a little.

Nikola and Helen stood up and he said angrily, "I never made any claims about my heritage; King Zeus decided for himself that we were related."

Helen didn't want to make the gods any angrier than they were. Her main aim was still to get back to Earth, and her diplomacy skills were far greater than Nikola's. She said calmly, "We admit we don't belong here. We are not gods or goddesses, we are just people. We were brought here without our consent and only want to go back to where we do belong."

Zeus held up his hand to stop her from continuing with her plea to be returned to their own world. "That is all irrelevant. While Nikus can toss tiny thunderbolts, it is now obvious from his concealed deformities where his greater heritage lies. The only question is whether Queen Hera would prefer a separate punishment for him, or whether I should just send them both to his true great grandfather."

Deformities? Helen had a sudden hope. "Do you mean Hephaestos?" He among all the gods was the only one reported with any imperfections- he had either been born lame, or lamed by Hera.

The gods ignored her. Dionysus said, "And Helen should be punished as well, for her attack on me when I was only trying to do something nice for her."

Zeus leaned back, an amused look on his face. "Do you think you _can_ punish her, god of wine?"

"I erred last time, in taking her to the glade. I will take her to my room where there is no hope for escape, and my satyrs will assist me if she resists. Her punishment will be sweet for me."

Zeus turned to his wife. "And my queen, what would you have me do with Nikus that would repay the insults he has given?"

"He detested the last punishment you gave him so let us repeat it. Restrain him with your powers and let me do the same to him, only this time with his wife to witness his humiliation. And then let him witness hers, which will be an even greater lesson to teach him his humble station."

Zeus laughed. "Fitting. And we will watch the second half in comfort in our scrying pool."

Nikola hissed, "You cold bastards. You kidnapped us and now plan to torture us because we're not your puppets? No wonder no one worships any of you anymore, you're just a bunch of monsters."

"Nikola!" Helen blurted out. There went any chance of talking their way out of it, although it was now obvious that chance had been extremely small to start with.

"It doesn't matter, Helen, they're going to do whatever they want with us anyway," the vampire responded.

Zeus produced two gold cords, a long one and a short one. He tossed the long one at Nikola and it wound around him tightly, pinioning his arms and lashing his legs together. The smaller cord flew out at Helen, just binding her arms against her sides.

Nikola tried to cut the cord around him with his claws, but they didn't even make a scratch. He was able to bend his head and try his fangs, but that had no effect either. Zeus just

smiled and said, "Hephaestos does excellent work, neither of you can escape his golden cords; no one could, not even a god. Of course, since he made them for me, no one else can control them either which means you are both caught fast. Now, let us proceed."

Helen protested one last time. "This isn't right, it isn't fair."

"Fair?" Hera echoed. "Fair is what we say it is. On Mount Olympus, justice is the pronouncement of the king and queen, so you are about to receive justice, both of you. And how can anyone say that justice isn't fair? Di, bring Nikus to me."

Nikola just looked despondent, his head down and shoulders slumped, as Dionysus picked him up by the collar of his suit jacket and took him to Hera. Being spanked publicly had been bad, but being helpless to stop Hera's punishment in front of Helen was worse. She would have no respect at all for him after seeing what was about to happen.

Helen was just angry at the way they were treating her husband. She was doing her best not to think beyond the moment, to what would happen to her later, and how Nikola would react. Of the two of them, he was stronger physically but more fragile psychologically.

Helen spoke as reassuringly as she could. "I love you, Nikola. No matter what happens to either of us."

He looked up at her as Dionysus pulled down his pants, the rope obligingly slithering out of the way while staying tightly wound. The god draped him across Hera's lap and she moved his suit coat and shirttail out of the way.

The queen of the gods spent a few moments looking at the bare flesh in front of her, smiling a little. She poked Nikola a couple of times with her finger, then snapped her fingers and a short black bristled rod appeared in her hand. She ran it gently over his buttocks. "Ah, little Nikus, I love you too, and so does my little rod. Feel it?" Hera said.

Nikola jerked. It stung, even at such a light touch. It was like a line of extremely sharp burrs with little hooks at the end of each scraping his skin. He felt his blood begin to ooze wherever she touched him. The she slapped him with it, and he gasped and bucked. She put her other hand on his back to hold him still, and began beating him, hitting hard to dig in and then raking.

The vampire made no sound as he was whipped and flensed. His blood splattered everyone there and soaked Hera's gown. She only stopped when she was exhausted, long after he'd passed out and hung completely limp. The queen of the gods shoved his still body contemptuously off her lap.

Helen could do nothing. Her tears slowly dried on her face. She knew Nikola would survive, would be well again and soon, although very hungry. To see him deliberately given such pain made her angry and terribly distraught. But the gold cord held her fast.

For a moment everyone just stared at the bloody mess on the floor. Then Dionysus said cheerily, "Well done, my queen. My turn now."

He reached for Helen, but Zeus reminded him, "Take them both. With the blood of the gods in him—I'm sure he must have some left—Nikus will waken soon, and he is to watch if you will remember."

The god of wine dutifully grabbed Nikola by the collar again and half carried half dragged him over to Helen. She stood still and waited for him; wherever he was going, she would be with Nikola at least. Di put his hand on her shoulder and then they were somewhere else.

It was a white room- floors, walls, and ceiling. There was little furniture, mostly just a big bed, a couple of chairs and a small table, some hooks on the wall for clothes. Di released Helen and lifted Nikola's limp body up to loop the accommodating cord over one of the hooks and hang him up like a grotesque tapestry. Nikola still seemed unconscious, but at least his suit coat and shirt tail covered the important parts while his pants and underwear puddled around his ankles.

Looking around, Helen realized why Dionysus had brought her to this place. There was no door, no windows, no way in or out except by transporting. Not a problem for a god, but an unsolvable one for anyone else. She was trapped, and there were two satyrs in the room, lounging bored in a corner. They straightened up when the god turned toward them.

"Now my lovely Helen," said Dionysus, "Time to get you ready, so when Nikus awakens his eyes will be filled with us, together."


	13. Chapter 13

Dionysus motioned to the two satyrs. "Put her on the bed," he said, and turned to see if Nikola was awake yet.

Helen could hardly believe his casual attitude. Last time she had mostly kicked him until he was down, and her legs were currently free. Not only that, but now she was wearing her own sturdy boots, not flimsy sandals. She couldn't reach her gun, but he wasn't aware she had one anyway. Her conclusion was that the god of wine wasn't very bright. Well, he'd been getting drunk for thousands of years, perhaps that had had a permanent effect on him.

The satyrs approached her unconcerned about protecting themselves as well. From what she had read in the Sanctuary library, such creatures were strong but not overly bright either, and were undoubtedly taking their cue from their master.

When the first satyr strode up to her she stepped forward right onto its ankle and hoof. It cried out and stumbled back as she spun on her other foot and kicked the second satyr under the chin. It was much easier to be fighting creatures shorter than herself.

Di turned back and lunged at her. She sidestepped and put out a foot and tripped him. Too bad she couldn't push him as well, but she had to take what she could get. She risked a glance at Nikola and saw that his eyes were open, but he didn't seem to be tracking the action yet.

The second satyr was up and grabbed her upper arm before she knew he was there. That put him in a position she couldn't reach well with her feet. She tried to pull back from him but was latched onto by the other satyr as well. She noticed with satisfaction that he was limping, but between them they held her so she couldn't kick either one.

The god had recovered his balance as well. He was careful not to get too close to her though, so apparently he'd finally learned something. The satyrs dragged her to the bed and up on it. They shifted their grips to one hand on her wrist and one on her knee, effectively ending her ability to do damage.

Dionysus smiled and came to the bed. He looked back at Nikola again, to find the vampire looking back angrily.

"Good, now we can begin," he said, and started taking off Helen's clothes. The boots and socks came off first and then he started pulling down her trousers. Helen did her best to impede him, but he was stronger and there wasn't much she could do. Then she noticed movement past his shoulder.

The gold cord was unwinding from Nikola. It gently dropped him to the floor where he quickly pulled up and secured his pants. By the time the cord lay completely still on the floor he had stepped out of it.

"Get away from my wife, you overgrown sot," he snarled.

Startled, Di jerked Helen's pants the rest of the way off, baring her from the waist down, which caught the focus of both of the satyrs.

Nikola let all his rage at the pain and humiliation he'd suffered fuel his leap at Dionysus. He landed on the god's shoulders and was tearing at his head before Di could lift an arm. The god screamed and started beating and pulling at Nikola, trying to get the maddened vampire off of him.

The scream brought the satyrs' attention back to their duty. One ran and started pulling at Nikola's foot, which was all he could reach from the floor. The brighter of the two stayed on the bed and jumped on Nikola, arms going around the vampire's neck.

With the satyrs pulling and the god pushing, they managed to dislodge Nikola and pull him off the now bloody Dionysus. His blood was an odd purplish color, but the vampire had used his fangs as well and it tasted fine to him.

Nikola fell on top of the satyrs, sprang to his feet, and tossed the first satyr he could reach across the room and heavily into the wall. The second got to a crouch and tried to butt with his three inch long horns. Tesla sidestepped and propelled the satyr into Di, one horn sinking into his thigh. The bloody god roared in pain and tossed the satyr away himself.

Di looked up and called, "This isn't how this is supposed to go! They are the ones being punished, not me. This isn't fair. Zeus! Hera! Aid me now against this unnatural creature."

Both male and female laughter sounded from far away. Then the gold cord started unwinding from Helen. Dionysus disappeared and reappeared on the other side of Nikola. He grabbed up both of the dazed satyrs.

"Fine. Instead of a little fun, let your punishment be entrapment here until you die." He vanished again, and didn't come back.

Nikola looked around. The room was a total shambles, with purple blood splatters here and there. Helen nodded at him when he turned his gaze to her. She was free and dressing. She'd pulled out her gun and it was on the bed beside her, but she hadn't needed to use it. Nikola retrieved her socks and boots from where they had been strewn around the room, diving under the bed for one boot.

He set them on the bed next to her. He'd dressed in a hurry and now took time to tuck in his shirt and straighten his clothes. They were a bloody mess, but at least they were now a neat bloody mess. He sat down on the bed heavily. His rage had burned out, and now he was just very tired and hungry. He suddenly remembered he'd packed a snack for himself when they went walking in the woods. Was it in his suit jacket or the overcoat he'd left behind in the temple? He searched quickly and was pleased to find the little baggy unbroken in an inner pocket. He quickly downed it. That, and the little he'd gotten from Dionysus wasn't nearly enough to satisfy him, but at least it took the edge off.

Fully dressed and her gun stowed away, Helen scooted over until she was seated next to him. Together they just sat and took in their situation. No windows, no doors.

There were three holes for air vents up near the top of two opposite walls. Nikola went over to examine them. They were only about as big around as his thumb, and a good three feet deep. The vampire tried his claws on the edge of the wall. It was hard stone. He could make tiny scratch marks in it, but he quickly calculated that if he worked night and day, it would take something like twenty-five days to enlarge the vents sufficiently for them to crawl through. And his claws wouldn't last; they would be worn to the end of his fingers long before he fully penetrated the wall. There just wasn't any way out.

He went back to the bed, shaking his head at Helen's inquiring look, and sat again.

Helen said, "It appears our fate is now literally in the hands of the gods. What do you think they will do?"

"No idea. They were being cruel and enjoying it, and then suddenly switched sides and gave us a chance. I don't understand that kind of behavior."

"Nor do I. Perhaps they just seek whatever seems to be the most exciting and unusual at the time. Beatings and rape are probably old hat to them, just normal behavior patterns that they fall into without even thinking about it much. But a battle between an angry vampire and a mortal woman against two satyrs and a god is probably a bit more unusual and therefore interesting."

"Well, watching us starve to death isn't going to be a thrill."

"We'll die of thirst first, although you could last quite a while, particularly if you drink as much of my blood as possible before I die," Helen offered.

"Not going to happen, and you know it," Nikola replied with finality. He devamped just so she wouldn't get any more ideas like that.

"Hmm, I wonder if King Zeus and Queen Hera are listening to our conversation right now." She gave him a meaningful glance and he caught on immediately.

"That's a thought. We're being pretty boring right now. In our prison, we don't have any choice; there isn't anything to do in here. Well, we could play word games or have sex, but nothing they haven't seen a thousand times before."

"Indeed, while outside this room there are a great many possibilities. We are an unusual pair, after all, likely to do almost anything given half a chance."

"Right. Dionysus is probably not up for a rematch, but there could be monsters or something they'd enjoy seeing us go up against."

Helen added, "Absolutely, and this tiny room is very limiting. Can't very well bring a dangerous kraken or basilisk to us, but it would easy to transport us . . ."

"Enough," a deep male voice said, and Zeus appeared, chuckling. "I've heard this conversation a few hundred times before, too. No, I said Nikus should go to his true great grandfather, and so you both shall." He leaned toward Helen and added, "Not Hephaestos."

Hera appeared. "Are you really going to send them away? They are right in one thing, they are quite entertaining. And do you know what I enjoyed most? Her offer of her blood, and his refusal, even though he needs it and her plan might actually work for him. They really do love each other; they are truly married, and I am the goddess of marriage, among other things. Do keep them together, Zeus."

"Oh yes, they are much more trouble as a pair than as two singles. I will enjoy thinking about the havoc they might create where they are going."

Nikola asked, "And just where might that be?"

"Stand up, and you will find out."

They stood. There was no chance for survival where they were, so the odds were the next place would be at least a tiny bit better.

Zeus placed his hands on their shoulders and suddenly the room was gone and they were falling. He let them go and shouted, laughing, "To Hades, of course!" And he disappeared.


	14. Chapter 14

They didn't hang in the air for long. Nikola had no chance to grab Helen and protect her from the landing, but it wasn't too bad. They thumped down on dark red plush carpeting.

They were surrounded by people, but Nikola checked his wife first to make sure she hadn't been injured. She sat up by herself and gave him a nod. Both of them would likely have a few bruises from Zeus literally dropping them off, but the vampire's would fade quickly. He still wasn't quite recovered from Hera's beating and the fight with Dionysus, but he just needed a full meal to replace the blood he'd lost.

Being among humans was a good sign, particularly since this was supposed to be Hades, and they were both expecting devils, torture, and lakes of fire. The first individuals that Helen saw were a tall black man dressed in zebra and lion skins and a little old Asian woman in a pink silk kimono. Nikola, looking the opposite way spotted a couple dressed as if they were at the eighteenth century French court and a cowboy.

They got up, staring at what appeared to be a fantastic costume party, except everyone was just looking back at them in silence and no one had drinks or canapes in hand. There was a wide variety of people wearing clothing from all parts of the globe and all eras of history.

Turning, they discovered that everyone had moved aside from an aisle leading to a huge man seated on a throne. "Great, another god, "Nikola said under his breath.

"Behave," Helen whispered. "We have a chance here to make a good impression, perhaps get him on our side."

"Who, Satan? Do we want him on our side?"

She didn't reply, just took his hand and started walking forward, passing out of the crowd to a clear area in front of the throne. It appeared to be made of bones and gold, and the large handsome man on it was dressed in black robes. There was a ten foot tall staff with a glowing red stone at the tip in a holder attached to the throne.

The god spoke first. "Well, who has my dear brother tired of now? What did you two do to make him kick you out?"

Helen replied for them. "King Zeus abducted us from Earth against our will. We were ejected from Mount Olympus because we objected to my husband, Nikola here, being tortured and me handed over to Dionysus for his use. By the way my name is Helen, what shall we call you?"

"My name is Hades; I rather thought that was obvious from Zeus's announcement when he deposited you in my throne room. I don't use a title, I don't need one. And I heard that remark about Satan. Let me be clear, I am not a personification of evil, I am the ruler of the underworld just like Poseidon rules the ocean, and greedy Zeus rules everything else. Now—I can understand why Zeus might abduct a beautiful woman, but what use had he for you, Nikola?"

"He thought we were related because he somehow detected my use of electricity. But then I showed him my vampire side and he decided I was more closely related to you. Personally, I don't see it."

"Interesting. Let's see your vampire side."

Nikola vamped. Hades started laughing and said, "Not bad. But I'll see your fangs and claws and raise you . . ." He stood and changed too, growing not only fangs and claws but two long gracefully curving black horns as well out of his head. "Horns! Any vampires you know have these?"

"Not a one. But the rest . . . could you be an ancestor of the vampire race?" Nikola asked, curious. Tracing vampire history was one of his hobbies.

"Possibly. Persephone and I had . . . twelve, no fourteen children- forgot the twins. Most of them ended up living on your Earth. So it's possible I am your many-times great grandfather. What do you do with electricity?"

Nikola demonstrated, letting just a little power dance around the end of his fingers. "I can power a machine with it, or toss it a little, a smaller version of Zeus's thunderbolts. That's what attracted him to us."

"Interesting. You actually might be descended from both of us. What sort of work do you do?"

"I am an inventor and a scientist. I also work with Helen at the Sanctuary, an institution devoted to the protection of humans and . . . non-humans alike."

"Then we have more than personal armament in common. Let me show you something." He gestured at the far wall and all the watching people turned to face it as well. A large oblong lit up on the wall, and the ambient lighting dimmed. Then, to the amazement of Helen and Nikola, "The Wizard of Oz" started playing with the sound turned down low.

Nikola said softly, "How in the world . . . this is a different universe, you shouldn't be able to get anything from Earth."

"As you can see, I am what you would call a 'techie' myself," Hades said. "It can be terribly boring down here, so I have plenty of time to fiddle around and experiment. Television and movies from Earth have saved a lot of my guests from going stir crazy, and I must admit I enjoy some of your shows myself."

Helen said excitedly, "Then you know Earth, and you can send us back!"

"I know it, Helen, but I am restricted to the underground. If I could simply send anyone back where they belonged, do you think all these people would have spent centuries here? No, I would have returned them; I really don't need all of my brother's rejects living with me forever."

"No time?" Nikola asked.

"Suspended."

"Fascinating. How?"

Helen interjected, "Nikola, don't get sidetracked, we're trying to get home."

He nodded and asked Hades, "No way of connecting physically?"

Hades hesitated. "There is a node. I work through it for the radio and television signals. I have established a number of transfer points to other universes, but the journey is impossible for the average person. I've done it a few times, but no average person could make it through alive."

Nikola grinned. "We're not average. Just point us to your node and tell us how to get to Earth."

Hades gave him a concerned look. "You, perhaps. But Helen is just a human isn't she? Or is she also a vampire?"

Helen replied, "I am not quite human, but I have no special abilities like a vampire does. Nevertheless, we are both determined to return to our world. Our lives are there, as is our child. Show us the way we must go."

The underworld ruler shook his head. "No. I would be responsible for your death, and that would be no favor to Nikola, either. And with him being a scientist as well, who knows what we could achieve together? It might take centuries or a millennium or two, but surely we could create an easy passage for everyone to return to their places of origin, perhaps even their times of origin as well. I have long wished for someone who shares my interest in science and technology to work with, and Nikola and I are even related. Are you up to the challenge, vampire?"

Helen had a sinking feeling in her stomach, looking at the eagerness in Nikola's face. He was already nodding, loving the idea of experimenting with space and time with Hades. "Nikola, we need to talk. Hades, please excuse us for a few minutes."

She led her husband off to the side of the huge room, away from the throne, the crowd, and Dorothy Gale.

She spoke to him quietly. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I could learn a lot of really cool stuff from Hades, and together we might find a way to conquer space and time. Imagine having the multiverse and all of history and the future available at one's fingertips. It would be fantastic!"

"And how long do you think that would take?"

"I don't know, what's the difference? If we could control time, we could go back to any point in time we wanted—return to the Sanctuary the day after we left."

"And what if you never learn to control time, what if that isn't even possible? It might not be, you know. Then we both will have missed Danny's entire life, our grandchildren's lives, and lost all of our friends as well. Honestly, Nikola, how likely is time travel?"

"Not very, according to current scientific thought, but human and vampire science is still pretty primitive."

"So you want to stay here? And while you play science with Hades, what am I to do, watch television reruns?" She was a little peeved, Nikola could tell.

Nikola turned away and watched the crowd for a little. Helen let him think, waiting patiently. He finally turned back and said, "I know you believe I'm being selfish, just thinking how much fun I could have here. And I admit it, I would have a blast. But I'm also scared, Helen. I know you want to try to get back, and Hades said you probably wouldn't make it. I don't want to lose you. If we stay, we would be together."

"If we go, you'll be there to help me. If we run into something that I can't make it past, we could always come back here."

Nikola said seriously, "I know you too well. You won't turn back no matter what we encounter."

"You're probably right. It's all or nothing. I'm going home to my child and the Sanctuary. Are you coming?"

"Well, if you put it that way . . . why do you even ask me these things when you already know the answer?"

Helen grinned. "Come on, let's go convince your big buddy and get the details."

As they walked, Nikola said, "Yeah, he kinda is, isn't he? I think we would work pretty well together. I wonder if we could turn his big TV into two way communication."

"Later, Nikola, after we're home."

"I'll get the specs before we go so I can work on it from my end."

"Fine, but first we have to get home."

"We probably should get some supplies too, you know, food, water, rope, blood, the essentials."

"Yes, Nikola, we'll get supplies."

"Because he knows what we'll encounter so he can tell us and we'll be prepared and that will give us a better chance."

"Yes, I figured that out."

"I wonder if he has any wine."


	15. Chapter 15

Helen and Nikola rested and ate while Hades directed his humans to gather supplies for them. The god offered the vampire something like a goat; Nikola made a face at the hair and the taste, but he was hungry enough to drink.

Once they were refreshed, Helen went through what had been gathered for them: water skins, dried meat and some sort of pulp also dried, and something like energy bars. She didn't look too closely at what was in them, not really wanting to know. They were crunchy and a little sweet, so they would do. There was no way to package blood to keep it fresh, though. Nikola was just going to have to feed before they left and hope they could get to the surface in short order. Climbing gear was readily available, some of the humans explored caves for a hobby, and she was able to put together a make-shift first aid kit. There was nectar, but no wine and Helen declined the nectar; she would be depending on Nikola heavily, and there was no point in tempting him.

Nikola spent time with Hades, going over and absorbing as much of his science as he could and getting the schematics for the god's node and communication hook-ups. He also found out everything he could about the journey ahead of them.

"I only know a little of what you will encounter," Hades told him. "My transporting ability is rather weak through lack of use. I can move around through some of the larger caverns, but I use the ability very cautiously with more rock than space around me. I did make it to your world once, to establish the node on the other side, but I'm not sure I could do it now with another person."

Nikola nodded and asked, "So what is going through the node like, and what is on the other side?"

"The main problem with going through the passage to your Earth is the radiation. I have nothing to give you to protect Helen, nor any medication to ameliorate the damage once she has passed through. It will likely take a few days before she is incapacitated, but she will gradually grow weaker and may die in a matter of weeks if she does not receive help."

"I understand, we've encountered the problem before. What kind of radiation?"

Hades just shrugged. "It doesn't really affect me, so I've never investigated it."

Nikola shook his head, a little aggravated. Hades might have some scientific talent, but he'd obviously never had any training. "Well if I wrap myself around her, would that at least partially protect her?"

"That would likely reduce her exposure since your body would absorb some of the radiation, but you cannot cover her completely."

"Would the radiation harm you? Could you go through with us? With two of us, we could block more of the radiation."

"My body automatically repairs itself just as yours does, so I suppose I could walk you through," Hades agreed reluctantly.

"What about an electro-magnetic shield? I can generate one that would encompass both of us."

"I'm sorry, I really have no idea if that would work."

"I'll have to discuss it with Helen. I suspect she will be willing to take the risk. What will we find on the other side?"

"There is a large cavern. There are no natural tunnels or crevices leading out of it. The only possible way to continue is a number of worm holes high up on one wall. I call them worms, but of course they may not be worms at all. In any case, they are quite large, and not at all aggressive. Their burrows vary from one Earth foot to about three Earth feet in diameter, so some are large enough for you to crawl through. The problem is they create the tunnels with an acid they secrete from glands on their skin. It leaves smears on the walls. Imagine if it eats through rock what it would do to flesh. And then there is the difficulty of climbing the cavern wall to reach those burrows."

"If you are there with us, couldn't you just transport us up to them?"

"Into a three foot tunnel with another person? No. Insufficient space for arrival, some portion of one of us would end up in the rock."

"Yeah, okay, that wouldn't be good. I can climb it and assist my wife if she needs help. What's on the other end of the worm burrows, and if there are multiple burrows, which one should we take?"

Hades shrugged. "No idea, the cavern is as far as I've ever gone on the Earth side."

"This is not going to be fun. I'll talk to Helen and let you know what we decide."

Helen listened to Nikola's recitation of what the underworld god had told him, and then said, "I am determined to go home." She thought for a few moments. "With radiation poisoning there may be some discomfort within a few hours, but then after a day or two there is generally a period of a week or more with few symptoms. If we could reach home within that time, I could treat myself and possibly avoid the worst of it."

"But we have no idea how long it will take."

"If I rest for a day after exposure, that will help lessen the symptoms and aid my recovery, assuming your shield doesn't work. During that time, you can go up to the worm holes and explore them to see which is most promising. Maybe we could take blankets or perhaps leather to put on the floor of the burrow to lessen our contact with the acid, and we can wear gloves and kneepads of leather too."

"Gloves and kneepads, yes, but it would be awfully bulky and heavy lugging that much floor covering. Do you really want to do this, Helen? Last time you survived because of Praxian technology. We don't have that now."

"Nikola, I'm willing to risk it. I refuse to spend eternity in Hades; I am going home to my son. At the very least, whatever happens to me, you will be there to help him grow up into a good person."

"Maybe. We don't know what we'll encounter. We'll be totally lost and I'll be without food. Anything could happen, like I could fall into a pit of magma or something. There are no guarantees that I'll make it either."

"And perhaps getting to the surface will be easy once we traverse the worm holes. We won't know until we try."

"Okay, then we'll try. When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as we gather everything we need, and you've drunk as much as you can."

When they were ready, Hades led them through a series of tunnels down to a small dead-end chamber.

He explained, "I don't leave access to the transfer points open so no one tries going through any of them. They're just on the other side of this wall, and I'll transport us over."

Hades grasped their shoulders and then they were in darkness, except for four glowing door-sized rectangles. Nikola quickly vamped and created his shield around himself and Helen. Outraged, he demanded, "Are you insane? You just leave all of your gates wide open spewing radiation all over the place?"

The god replied defensively, "Very little leaks out and none penetrates through the thick rock we just passed. It makes no difference since it harms no one. Now do you want to proceed or argue?"

"Which one?" Helen asked, lighting a lantern. She wanted to get through quickly; every moment counted.

"This one," Hades replied, pointing.

Nikola directed, "Get in close and cover Helen in the front, I'll be behind her and my shield will cover all of us. Ready? Sideways, go!"

Carrying only the lantern, they skipped sideways in some odd dance, their packs and equipment left on the floor to be retrieved after the human was through. It was only a few paces and they arrived out of another single glowing door into a tall cylindrical cave.

Helen and Nikola detached themselves from Hades, but Nikola kept his shield around the two of them until they were well away from the door and on the other side of a group of stalagmites. Then he went back through the door and fetched their equipment while Hades looked around.

When Nikola had brought everything to the protected place where Helen was, he asked, "Where are the wormholes?"

Hades pointed at the wall to the left of the glowing door. "Up there. I never considered humans coming through here. I should put some sort of seal at each end of my gates. I will do this one as soon as I get back, both ends, so do not be concerned if its appearance changes. Now farewell and good luck."

The god of the underworld went back through the glowing doorway. Nikola got Helen settled amid their packs and blankets in a small hollow, but Helen could see he was angry.

"Nikola?"

"He's a damn fool. That gate has been irradiating this chamber for years; we have to get you out of here as soon as we can. I'm going up that wall and start checking wormholes. You keep yourself down low and I'll be right back."

While he was talking, Nikola donned leather gloves and strapped on kneepads. No point in damaging himself more than necessary. They'd given up the idea of covering the tunnel floor with something as impractical. Then he lit a second lantern with a strap attached to the handle and wore it across his body so the lantern hung at his hip out of the way. He strode to the wall and began to climb.

As he went up and the light penetrated further, Helen could see the wall was speckled with black dots ranging from forty to sixty feet above the cavern floor. The wall was craggy and not hard to climb, and Nikola swarmed up it quickly. He stopped at the first large hole and he and the lantern disappeared into it.

She waited, her hopes rising as time went by that he had found a way through. But he reappeared at the entrance and called down, "No go, this just goes to a nest."

"What are they like?" Helen called back.

"Big and yellow, kinda slow moving. They ignored me, so we don't have to worry about them unless they get in the way." He'd climbed up and over to another large hole and disappeared again.

The vampire climbed in and out of holes for over an hour before he appeared and shouted, "Bingo! This is the one, it goes to a large cavern with lots of non-wormy exits."

Nikola didn't bother climbing down, he just jumped, landing lightly and coming to her. His gloves and kneepads were in tatters. Parts of his clothing and the toes of his boots were burned here and there, and the cloth of his suit completely holed in some places.

They gathered up their equipment but he had Helen stay in the protected area while he took a rope, pitons, and a small heavy hammer and went back to his chosen worm burrow. In a few minutes he had a metal stake driven into the rock, and the rope hanging down from it to the floor. He jumped down again and grabbed their packs. She'd put out her lantern and donned gloves and kneepads, and he replaced his, too.

"How are you feeling? Any ill effects yet? Can you make it up?"

"Not bad, a little nausea. I'll make it."

Helen went first, Nikola a little below and to the side of her, ready in case she slipped or ran out of energy before she made the burrow. She climbed at a good pace, but steadily and carefully and they both made it up without a mishap.

The worm hole reeked of a sharp unpleasant odor. She let him wiggle past her with the packs and extracted a scarf from hers to wrap her face as he went by. Then they began to crawl, Nikola in front to show the way. The lantern strap was looped around his neck several times so the light hung below his chin and the packs were strapped to his chest and belly. It made moving through the limited space awkward for him, but mostly protected their supplies from the walls of the worm hole.

Nikola turned into a side burrow that was a little smaller, but continued on without pausing. It took about twenty minutes before they arrived at a large cavern. They crawled out onto a ledge, and Nikola divested himself of the packs. Helen lit a second lantern and he went back into the worm burrow while she got rid of her damaged gloves and kneepads and wiped herself off with a damp cloth wherever she'd touched acid. In a short while he reappeared with the climbing gear, and cleaned himself as well as he could too. Then he reset the piton and rope so Helen could climb down about twenty feet of smooth rock. When she was safely on the cavern floor, the vampire pulled out the stake and jumped down.

One glance at Helen's pale face told him she was feeling the ill effects of the radiation more than she had let on, and the trip through the worm hole had exhausted her.

"Let's take a break," he suggested. "I could use a drink of water to clear the stench out of my mouth and sinuses." He knew she would stop for a bit if he needed it, but he was afraid she would try to push on if he said she should rest.

After they had both drunk, Nikola said, "I'm going to take one of the lanterns and explore our options. Why don't you eat something and relax for a bit? I may have to do some climbing, so there's no point in you coming too."

Helen just nodded, and then pulled out her blanket and stretched out on it. "I'm not hungry, but I feel like I could use a nap. Wake me when you are ready to go."

Her eyes quickly closed. She didn't see Nikola staring at her in alarm, suddenly realizing that if Helen was willing to sleep while he explored, she must be worse off than he had realized.


	16. Chapter 16

Nikola took his time exploring. There were at least a dozen crevices and caves that were large enough for them to go through. Some they would have to climb to reach, others were nearly at ground level. Several tunnels he explored angled down, and he went far enough to determine they were unlikely to get them to the surface. One or two petered out, slowly narrowing until they became impassable, and one ended abruptly in a pit. He finally made a decision, and returned to Helen.

She was sleeping, but she still looked pale and drawn. He sat down and waited for a couple of hours until she stirred awake.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Feeling better?" he asked.

Helen sat up slowly. "Not really, and I should be. I'm beginning to worry about what sort of radiation I was dosed with."

"We'll get home soon. I found a good prospect to get us to the surface."

"Did you? Nikola, we came here from underground, not from the surface. We could be anywhere on Earth, at any depth."

"Yeah, so?"

"Two thirds of the Earth's surface is covered with water. We may very well be under the Pacific, or the mid-Atlantic ridge, or the North Pole for that matter. If we have to go a thousand miles or more to reach land, I won't make it. You might, if I'm not holding you back."

"We're not under the North or South Pole."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because we would be close to a magnetic pole, and we're not, trust me, I would know."

"Right, your electromagnetic abilities."

"And we're not under the middle of the ocean, because if we were underground a thousand miles from an air source, we would be dead of asphyxiation, and _ta-da_ , we're not."

His over-dramatizing of his explanation made her smile a little, which of course is why he did it. "Very well, you've convinced me. But I'm afraid to say I'm quite ill. I'll go on as far as I can, that's all I can promise."

"And all I can promise is that you're getting home, Helen, if I have to carry you, and I can you know."

"All right, we're both going to make it back to the Sanctuary," she agreed. Helen wasn't really sure that would happen considering how weak she felt, but she was certainly going to try. "So where is this delightful passage you've found?'

"Right this way." Nikola and Helen had packed up everything while they talked, and now he led her across the cave to a dark triangular opening. Slanting across and forming one side was a solid sheet of rock that was different from the surrounding rock and extended into their cavern as well. It was flat against the wide end of an "L" shaped crevice.

"Major tectonic shift," Helen commented. "We may be at the conjunction of two plates."

"Or under a mountain range. I'm rooting for the Rockies myself, although I wouldn't mind the Alps. If you were feeling better we could spend a little time in Europe."

"What made you choose this passageway? The floor is quite tilted; it doesn't appear to be an easy walk."

Nikola smiled at her. "Yeah, but feel the breeze."

Helen held up her hand. "There is air movement. Well done, Nikola. We may be nearer the surface than I had feared."

"Don't get too excited. I went in pretty far, and it looks just like this as far as I went."

"Nevertheless, it's quite promising. Shall we?"

Nikola put her above him on the slanting floor, so she could easily lean on him if needed. They walked steadily, but it soon became a strain as the floor not only tilted down to one side, but was also angled upwards in the direction they were walking. There was little or no variation for almost two hours, and then the tunnel became noticeably steeper.

Helen stopped. "Wait, I need to rest a moment." She drank some water, but refused Nikola's offer of the food they had packed.

"I can't. If I eat, I'll vomit. I'm not even sure I can keep down the water."

The vampire studied her in silence for a few minutes. "Are you sure you have radiation poisoning? Your symptoms seem atypical."

"I was exposed to some unknown sort of radiation, and now I'm ill. It doesn't seem to be a mystery."

"You were also exposed to a bunch of old gods, and a mob of people from all over the place out of a wide spread of time. You could have picked up a bug your immune system has never encountered before very easily."

"I suppose that's possible. I'm not sure it makes a difference since we've little or nothing in the way of medication."

"At least if we knew what you had we would have some idea what to expect—you know, Bubonic Plague, Smallpox, Hoof and Mouth disease or whatever."

She gave him a half startled, half exasperated look. "I'm fairly sure I don't have Hoof and Mouth disease; I am not nor have I been exposed to a quadruped. But unless you have a medical lab in your pocket, there's no way to diagnose what I do have."

"Well . . . I do have a very refined palate."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting? Nikola, you can't possibly be hungry, you drank half a goat before we left!"

"It was disgusting, I barely had three mouthfuls. This isn't hunger; this is concern for your wellbeing."

"You want to drink my blood to help me," Helen said in a flat, unbelieving voice.

"Exactly. And just a teeny-weeny taste is all I need." He looked at her hopefully.

She contemplated him for a little while. "Exactly how would you know what a specific disease tastes like?"

"I wouldn't know all of them, of course. You know I tend to avoid hospitals. But I was doing some of your lab work when you had that run-in with Adam so I know a little about radiation poisoning."

She raised an eyebrow. "And instead of running the tests you were drinking my blood samples?"

"No, I ran all the tests, but you know you tend to draw more blood than is really necessary, and I wasn't drinking, I was tasting. "

"The difference being?"

"It was for science. I'm a vampire and I was curious, it was a natural thing to do. And I could track the progression of the radiation poisoning accurately that way, instead of relying on your continued protests that you were all right when you weren't."

Helen hesitated and then nodded. "Very well, I'll allow it, but just taste, no more." She extended an arm.

"I don't get . . . ?" He gestured at her neck.

"No, we are not starting that again. I really am ill, Nikola, and I am not in the mood for hanky-panky."

He sighed and took her arm. He put his mouth on her wrist and almost immediately released it. She watched him move her blood around in his mouth while he concentrated on the flavor.

"Well?" she finally asked.

Nikola swallowed. "I've got it. First, the burnt flavor of radiation damage is almost nil—you didn't get anywhere near a dangerous dose. My shield worked, so you're welcome."

That surprised her. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Vampire blood expert, remember?'

"All right Mr. Expert, so what do I have? Do you have any idea?"

"Actually, I think I do, at least a good guess. I'm very sorry to say . . ."

Helen waited a few seconds but he didn't continue. "What? Spit it out, Nikola!"

"This just has no dramatic value at all," he said dispiritedly. "I think it's just the flu."

"I've got the flu? I thought I was dying of radiation poisoning and I have common, ordinary flu?"

"Well, it could be an uncommon variety. In fact it might even be the deadly 1918 version," he said, perking up a little. "I haven't tasted enough different strains to be able to tell."

"I suppose it's possible. I'm feverish, achy, tired and nauseated. If it hadn't been masked by the likelihood of radiation exposure, I suppose flu would have been one of the more likely diagnoses."

Nikola pulled out a large white handkerchief and handed it to her. "You're going to need this."

She slowly took it from his hand. "We're lost underground; I really don't need a runny nose."

"Too bad you're not just a little bit more vampire, like me. I can't get sick, it's great."

Helen glared at him, but it was only a half strength glare. "Let's get going."

They trudged on until the passage twisted and became too steep to walk on. Helen stopped and sat down. Nikola settled her with the packs. He said, "I'll go ahead and see what I can find. Drink some water and eat if you can, I'm not sure how long this will take."

Helen's nose had started running. She blew it and said, "I'll nibble a little. Wake me if I'm asleep when you get back."

"Right." Nikola lit a second lantern and took it along with some of the climbing equipment and was soon out of sight.

He was able to scramble up the slope using just his claws until he came to a level area surrounded by rock. There was only one way to continue. The tunnel had turned straight up into a chimney, and at the top of the chimney was a little dot of light. A way out!

Looking up, the vampire estimated the distance as at least twice the length of the rope they had. So he needed to find places on the way up where he could stand and pull Helen up to safety.

The walls of stone were rough enough for him to climb using his claws. He went up slowly, looking around at all the walls for ledges or caves. There were a number of good possibilities that he climbed past. He wanted to reach the exit and see where they were. If there were people nearby, their help would make bringing Helen up a lot less dangerous.

Nikola reached the top and climbed out. The view was both spectacular and disappointing. He was somewhere on the side of a mountain with a beautiful view of a snow-tipped mountain range, but no signs of human habitation nearby.


	17. Chapter 17

Nikola spent a few minutes looking around. He spotted a small group of animals far down the mountain moving slowly as they grazed. They appeared to be cattle, but they were hardly more than dots from this distance so he wasn't sure. But cattle meant people, so he was hopeful.

He went back down the chimney, putting in a piton at the edge of the level area at the bottom and attaching the rope so it lay down the steep slope. He moved quickly back down the tunnel and found her awake and nibbling a little food.

"I've got news that will perk you up. I found an exit."

"That's wonderful! Can you tell where we are?"

"Not sure, but we'll come out on the side of a mountain in a young mountain range." He didn't mention the cattle, not wanting to get her hopes up if it turned out to be deer or some other wild animals.

"Rockies, Andes, or perhaps Asia?"

"Don't know," he said as he helped her up and shouldered the packs. Helen held on to him up the steep slope until she reached the rope, and then used that to help her climb while Nikola gave her a boost wherever she seemed to need it.

At the base of the chimney Helen rested while Nikola took out the pitons and moved them, the packs, and the rope to the first ledge. Helen took the end of the rope and tied a loop in it, put one foot in the loop and the other on the outside of the rope to give her a foot grip. She held on with her hands too and Nikola slowly pulled her up while she used one hand and her top foot to fend herself off of the side of the chimney whenever she swung in toward it.

They both rested, and then repeated the climb twice to reach the opening. Helen immediately began shivering when she reached the outside. The chilly air didn't affect the vampire overmuch, so he gave her his jacket, grabbed the packs, and they started down.

It took quite a long time to reach the meadow where the cattle grazed since in places the ground was too steep to go directly down and they had to move at an angle across the face of the mountain. They both took a long look at the cows.

Helen stopped and asked, "Are you hungry enough for cow blood?"

"Yeah, and I want to get a closer look at the brand." She waited while he slowly approached the cows. They weren't very frightened by people, but they did move away from him, slowly as he approached and more quickly when he got close. But he put on a burst of speed and grabbed one by the horns and bulldogged it down on its side. He crouched over it for a minute.

When he returned to her, he said, "I'm pretty sure we're in Wyoming, I recognize the brand." As they started walking on he continued, "They belong to the Bar MM ranch, and the owner's name is McMahan."

"You've been here before?"

"Yeah, ten or twelve years ago. Vic, the eldest son, is a biochemist and I spent a few weeks learning about his work. Nice guy."

They trudged on, finding a fence and following it until they heard a motor running ahead. Nikola motioned for Helen to wait, and he dropped the packs and took off toward the sound. In less than a half hour he was back riding in a large UTV. The driver was a ranch hand who helped load their packs into the back with tools and fence mending equipment while they crowded into the cab.

As they approached the ranch house Helen ran her fingers through her hair and tried to wipe her face with a clean corner of the handkerchief Nikola had given her, but she realized it was hopeless. They were both filthy and ragged and there wasn't anything she could do to repair the impression she would make. She knew she was pale and drawn as well. She caught Nikola watching her and shrugged.

He said quietly, "Don't worry about it. We were kidnapped and held underground, escaped, and you got sick. We're victims; we're supposed to be a mess."

She just nodded, acknowledging both his advice and the short version of the story they would tell about what happened to them. They couldn't very well say they had been consorting with Greek gods, at least not outside of the Sanctuary.

A young woman came out of the house and stood waiting for them on the porch. She was small and cute, with long, brown, curly hair and an excellent figure. She was dressed in tight jeans, boots, and a pink tank top.

When they got out of the UTV, her eyes opened wide and she ran to Nikola and threw her arms around him.

"Nicky! It's been ages. What happened to you, Honey?"

Nikola glanced over to see how Helen was reacting. He saw mostly surprise rather than anger which was encouraging. "We were kidnapped and left in a cave. The entrance was collapsed but we were left food and survival equipment. I guess there would have been a ransom demand and our location given so we could be dug out, but we didn't wait for that. We worked our way underground and came out above your high pasture. Oh, this is Helen. Helen, this is Cindy."

Cindy gave Helen a puzzled smile and said, "Welcome to Bar MM." She turned back to Nikola and asked, "Is she your mother?"

Nikola froze and didn't look at Helen. He didn't want to see her reaction. "Uh, no . . ."

Just then two other people came out of the house and saved him from continuing. One was a man of about forty with short curly brown hair in a lab coat, and the other was a tall, younger blond woman who also threw her arms open wide and engulfed the vampire in a hug. "Nicky, it's been so long!" she exclaimed while Vic said, "It's good to see you again, Nikola."

"Hi, Jody," he said, untangling himself from her embrace. "Um, Vic and Jody, this is Helen. Helen, Vic and Jody are Cindy's brother and sister, and Vic is the biochemist I was telling you about." He skipped explaining his relationship to Helen, it made him uncomfortable and he didn't want to think about it. He went on, "Can we use your phone? We need to tell people where we are."

"Why sure," Cindy said. "You know where it is. Vic, show Helen to a room so she can wash up. Nicky, you can use the same one you did last time you were here. Jody, why don't you see if you can find some clothes that would fit these folks while I get cook to rustle up some grub."

"Something very bland for me, please," Helen said. "I'm just recovering from the flu."

"And nothing for me," Nikola added.

As Vic and Nikola headed inside, Vic asked, "Are you still on that weird diet?" Helen didn't hear the answer and didn't need to. She tagged along after them, Nikola heading into a large office while Vic led her upstairs to a comfortable room and showed her where the bathroom was.

Nikola's call to the Sanctuary was answered by Biggie.

"This is Tesla. Helen and I are back, we're at the Bar MM ranch in Wyoming in the U.S."

"Hmm. Where have you been? Is Helen safe, not hurt or anything?"

"Yeah, we're both fine, although she's recovering from the flu."

"You let her get sick?"

"It's not my fault she got the flu. Look, details after we get home. Is everything okay there? Is Danny all right?"

"He's fine. We've all been worried about her, and the paperwork is backing up."

"Just send a helicopter in the morning. There's plenty of open pasture, there shouldn't be any problem with landing."

Nikola hung up and went to clean up. He didn't want to talk to Helen until she'd had time to wash, dress in clean clothes, and at least have a cup of tea.

He was pleased to find a box of his clothes in his room left from the last time he was there. A suit had been taken out and pressed, so once he'd showered he was able to dress in clothes he liked instead of that horrible western style everyone in the area seemed to wear.The thought of flannel made him shudder.

When he went downstairs, he turned into the kitchen and found Helen alone, sipping tea and eating toast and jam. An empty bowl with traces of oatmeal had been pushed aside. Encouraged by her increased appetite, he took a chair across the table from her.

"You look like you're doing better," he said. She did look better with her hair clean and in clean clothes. But she was still pale, had no makeup or way to style her hair, and her clothes were best left unmentioned. She had on a baggy mid-calf length purple and brown print dress with buttons up the front and scuffs. Nikola thought she looked like a lazy grandmother from fifty . . . no, more like seventy or eighty years ago.

"And you look surprisingly exactly like you usually do. Where did the suit come from?"

"It's just something I left here. I talked to Sasquatch. There should be a helicopter to pick us up in the morning."

"Good, I'll be glad to get home. Is everything all right there?"

"Yeah, your butler said Danny is fine, and as usual when you're away, the paperwork is backing up. You'd think Huggybear would figure out how to keep up with it."

"Let's not talk about Will. I want to know why you didn't tell Cindy that I'm your wife."

"Well, you know, we were interrupted and a conversational opening didn't come up after that. Besides, they don't need to know. After tomorrow we'll probably never see them again."

"Why do I not quite believe you, Nicky?"

Nikola squirmed a little. "Look, they knew me at a time when I was a different person. You were only talking to me to refuse to help me with my vampires and later to get the Source Blood. I was focused on recreating the vampire race, which is why I spent time here. Vic was doing work on the exact process of what happened step by step in the body when someone dies. He was working with human biochemistry of course, but some of it was applicable to ex-humans too, and since you wouldn't help me, I was trying to figure it out on my own."

"And just what was your relationship with Cindy and Jody?"

"They had crushes on me, and I sort of encouraged it. The more people in the house that liked me, the longer I could stay. But believe me, they were far too young for anything romantic. Once I saw you again, I realized how immature young human women are, and I was not interested. I just tried to be the favorite uncle type, picking up little presents for them and flattering them. There was nothing more, I swear."

"Considering their greetings and the dowdy clothes they've given me, I don't believe they are quite over you. Perhaps you should do something about that before we leave."


	18. Chapter 18

After Helen had finished eating, Nikola escorted her upstairs to her room. It was the one next to his and had an adjoining door. While she climbed into bed, he unlocked the door from both sides.

"I'm going to spend some time catching up with Vic," Nikola said to her. "The door between our rooms is unlocked so if you need anything tonight you can just call me. Is there anything I can get you now?"

"Newspapers would be good, so I can catch up on what's going on in the world. I don't suppose you could borrow a computer?"

"I'll see what I can do." He came back in a few minutes with newspapers, magazines, and a laptop. He had a clean glass and a pitcher of ice water balanced on top, and set those on Helen's nightstand while she eagerly took the computer and started the process to access the Sanctuary database. The vampire left the newspapers and magazines in a pile within her reach and went to join Vic in his lab.

Helen did what she could to help Will on the paperwork, making sure anything urgent or that needed her personal attention was taken care of before she logged off. She spent a little time reading magazines and papers and then napped. She was awakened by her door opening, and Nikola brought in a tray with eggs and toast and a pot of tea.

He sat with her while she ate and told him about the things she had handled at the Sanctuary that she thought he might need to know. He wasn't interested in most of it, but he nodded in the right places, and took her tray when she was done.

"Don't wait up for me," he said as he was leaving. "I'll probably be up late; Vic has made some interesting discoveries in the last few years and I won't get a chance to come back here for a long time if ever. Anything else you need?"

"No, thank you Nikola. When we get home tomorrow, I think you should take a sample of my blood and see if you can come up with a vaccine for whatever strain of flu I have. It could be something unusual, and if it is it could make a lot of people sick."

"Okay, but you seem to be recovering pretty quickly."

"Yes, but remember I'm old enough to have been exposed before to a great many types of the disease so I may have some natural immunity. And I am a little bit vampire and that may be helping too. There are quite a few people here and at home that don't have those advantages and we don't want to let people become ill or die because we went visiting."

"Right. And I'll need to follow up on the twins too, to see whether they've chosen to be human or vampire."

She smiled at him and said, "Good night, Nikola. Enjoy your visit with your old friend, and tomorrow we can address those issues."

"Good night, see you in the morning." He took her tray to the kitchen and went to Vic's lab. It was late when he was satisfied he had learned everything the scientist had discovered and went to his own room.

Nikola undressed, turned out his light, got into bed, and was asleep almost immediately. It was hours later when the bedroom door from the hallway opened and stealthy footsteps approached his bed.

The vampire became groggily aware someone . . . no, two someones were in his room, but he thought he recognized the sounds and scents of the humans at his bed, and he wasn't alarmed. There was the soft swish of cloth and then the mattress sank on both sides of him from the weight of people getting into his bed with him. That woke him fully, but it was too late.

There were two naked women in bed with him—Cindy and Jody, and they had stripped him of his nightshirt before he understood what they were doing. He tried to tell them to get off of him and out of his bed but one of them had her mouth on his and the other had her hands . . . elsewhere. Nikola simultaneously attempted to free his mouth and push the other young woman away, and found himself vamping. He stopped that, afraid of the damage claws and fangs could do in the dark to tender flesh.

He had both of them on top of him by then. One of them was giggling around her mouth on his, her hands running over his torso. The other was using her mouth on his genitals and it was having the desired effect. He finally got both his hands on the one kissing him and managed to push her upright just as the light came on.

He saw he had one hand on Jody's shoulder and the other on her breast, a mass of brown curly hair in his lap, and Helen in the doorway between their rooms. Nikola quickly pulled his hands back as the hair lifted off of him and became Cindy.

"Uh, I can . . ." he started to say, but Helen cut him off.

"Don't. Don't say a word," she said. She went back through the door, closing it softly but clicking the lock loudly.

"Well, Grandma's gone, now we can go back to having some fun," Jody said.

"Get off of me, both of you," Nikola said angrily.

"But Sugar, look, you're having fun too," Cindy said. "Little Nicky is just starting to enjoy himself."

The vampire sat up pushing Jody not overly gently off his bed. He let his eyes go red and his teeth grow just a little and lunged toward Cindy, who fell off the bed trying to back up.

"Get out. Whatever gave you the idea I wanted you in here? That was my wife you just insulted, and hear that? That's the sound of my marriage breaking. GET OUT!" Nikola roared.

The two young women hastily retrieved robes from the floor, wrapped themselves up and fled, leaving his door hanging open. Nikola got out of bed and picked up his nightshirt and bedding off of the floor. He put on the nightshirt, tossed the top sheet and blanket in a jumble on the bed, and went to take a shower. He could still feel their hands and mouths on him and wanted to wash the feeling off.

It didn't entirely work, but he felt better after scrubbing himself nearly raw. When he returned to his room he closed and locked the door to the hall behind him and went and stood at the adjoining door and listened. Was Helen crying? Maybe, softly. Bad time to try to talk to her.

Sleep was out of the question. He dressed and went through the house silently. Nikola went out on the porch and found a rocking chair to sit in. The night was cold and clear, and there were thousands of stars visible in the sky. He sat and rocked, and looked at them.

He knew what Helen was thinking. She would believe he'd broken his wedding vows and betrayed her with two young women. To make it worse, he'd done it in the room next to hers, apparently thinking she was too stupid to realize what she was hearing next door, or maybe she would think that he believed she was too sick to notice.

She would throw him out of her apartment. Would she exile him from the Sanctuary too? Maybe not, since he was still Danny's father, but she might not want him around his son either, in case he taught the boy his wicked ways. Or she might let him stay since their son was going to be a vampire and he would need his father's guidance.

Unless she used the de-vamper on Danny. Would she do that? Would she deny her son his heritage from his father? How hurt, how angry was she?

Nikola felt sick at the thought. Instead of a friendly twinkling light show, the stars now just looked hard and cold. He went inside and found a computer. He spent the rest of the night watching bird videos—birds flying, talking, singing, dancing, doing tricks. It didn't matter; he just had to stop thinking about what had happened.

When the first hint of dawn appeared, he shut the computer off and went outside. He had the de-vamper in his pocket, he could just walk away. If he did that, Helen wouldn't be able to de-vamp Danny at least. He definitely didn't want to face any of the women in the house.

But he had to try to salvage something with Helen. Maybe she would listen to him, maybe she would believe him. Nikola doubted it, he wouldn't believe any excuses himself if he walked in on someone in the position he'd been in last night. He just stayed outside until the sun came up and he heard the distant sound of a helicopter approaching.

Helen hadn't slept the rest of the night either. She had no appetite for breakfast so she just had two cups of tea. She put on the horrible dress again, made sure she had her gun, and found Vic and thanked him for his hospitality. Then she went out on the porch to wait for transportation. Unknowingly, she sat in the same rocker Nikola had used the night before.

She hadn't seen him this morning, and the young ladies had gone riding at the crack of dawn so she hadn't had to face them either. Helen just hoped the helicopter would arrive before they got back. And Nikola . . . she would have to see him eventually, but right now she didn't want to look at him. She was still shocked he had done that, and in the room right next to hers too. If someone had told her he would break his solemn oath to her she wouldn't have believed it. Nikola always kept his word when it counted, so apparently their marriage vows hadn't meant very much to him. And she had been such a fool to believe he actually loved her and would be her partner forever.

When they heard the helicopter, both of them walked toward it from different directions. Nikola was closer, but slowed his steps and angled toward her. Helen ignored him as he started walking next to her.

"I know you're upset, but please let me talk to you when we get home. It wasn't what it looked like, really," he said quietly as they approached the landing machine.

She didn't respond or even look at him. But she smiled when Henry bounded out of the aircraft, grinning.

"Hey, Doc! Are you okay?" the HAP said when she reached him.

"I'm fine, but believe me I'll be glad to put on my own clothes," she said, gesturing at her dress.

Henry nodded and said, "Yup, I believe that." He looked at Tesla. "What's the matter Vlad, you don't look happy to be going home."

There was a pained silence. Nikola shook his head a little and got in the helicopter without a word. Henry looked at Helen and said, "What?"

"It's personal. Just leave it," she replied grimly, and got into the aircraft too.

Henry muttered, "Uh oh." He got in next to the pilot, and the helicopter took off. The ride was noisy from the rotors. They wore headsets so they could talk to each other, but no one did.

The helicopter took them to an airport where they transferred to a Sanctuary jet which transported them to a city with one of Tesla's gates, and they were home by dinnertime.

Will met them at the gate, and began talking to Helen about business and the two of them went off toward her suite. Henry walked with Nikola toward his lab.

"So what happened?" he asked the vampire.

Nikola stopped and faced him. "I screwed up, but it wasn't my fault. Helen . . . she . . . well I have to talk to her, but she's royally pissed at me right now, and with good reason."

"So you're sleeping in your lab tonight."

"For the foreseeable future, if I'm lucky. Have you made any progress with that magnetic ceramic you've been working on?"

Henry recognized the deliberate change in topic but let it go. Trouble this big between the boss and her vampire was something he was definitely staying out of.

Note: SparklyxJarter, this is for you. I'm working on the sequel to my book "The Lady and the Prince" on Inkitt, so I won't be updating very often. You might like the book. Think Jonathon Young at 15 as a snarky prince with illegal magic and Amanda Tapping at 18 as the granddaughter of an impoverished baron that is supposed to marry him. Then things start to happen—mysterious attacks, plots, battles, romance, etc.


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